Business and Labor

Economic Development

SB 31* (Maddy-R) Taxation: manufacturer's investment credit

Provides a tax credit to warehousing and distribution activities for the purchase of qualified property.

(Died in Senate Local Government Committee)

SB 246* (Hughes-D) Personal income and bank and corporation taxes

Establishes a personal income tax and bank and corporation tax credit for wages paid to a blind employee and for any work-related expenses paid to provide reasonable accommodation of the employee's needs. Limits the credit to $3,000 for the first taxable year of employment and $2,000 for the second taxable year of employment.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

SB 635 (Knight-R) Economic development: enterprise zones

Requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to designate an enterprise zone which meets the criteria applicable to the City of Barstow.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 722 (Alpert-D) California Economic Development Financing Authority

Establishes the Emerging Technology Fund within the State Economic Development Financing Authority for the purpose of providing financial assistance to emerging technology companies, and appropriates $100 million from the General Fund.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 797 (Hughes-D) Calif. Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Bond Act

Enacts the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Bond Act to issue $200 million in bonds to finance a specified infrastructure loan improvement program.

(Died in Senate Governmental Organization Committee)

SB 847 (Thompson-D) Local infrastructure: state bonds

Enacts the Local Infrastructure Bond Act of 1997 to be submitted to the voters, authorizing the issuance of $200 million in general obligation bonds to finance the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank. Requires the proceeds of the bonds to be deposited in the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Fund to assist local government in attracting economic development projects.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 888* (Costa-D) Neighborhood development corporations

Enacts the Neighborhood Development Act allowing the State Department of Community Services and Development to charter up to 30 neighborhood development corporations in distressed neighborhoods, as specified, to establish a focal point for implementing welfare reform.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 974 (Greene-D) Enterprise zones: McClellan Air Force Base

Requires the Trade and Commerce Agency, upon application by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, to designate an additional 250 acres located on McClellan Air Force Base as part of the existing enterprise zone, with a connecting corridor between the two geographic areas.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SB 1184 (Thompson-D) California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank

Merges the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank and the California Economic Development Financing Authority into a single entity within the Trade and Commerce Agency.

Chapter 4, Statutes of 1998

SB 1434 (Solis-D) Job training: CalWORKs program

Permits funds from the Employment Training Panel (ETP), currently dedicated to CalWORKs recipients, to be used to train employed workers if the retraining project will create new employment opportunities for unemployed CalWORKs recipients. Permits this additional use of ETP funds only if the use will count toward the state's maintenance of effort required under the federal welfare block grant.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SB 1559* (Johnston-D) Job training

Makes changes to the education and job training report card developed by the State Job Training Coordinating Council to clarify the programs and trainees to be measured.

Chapter 874, Statutes of 1998

SB 1560 (Johnston-D) Employment Training Panel: job training

Makes changes to the Unemployment Insurance Code relating to the Employment Training Panel programs (ETP), including requiring the ETP to target a minimum of 75% of specified job training funds to training projects for companies engaged in manufacturing.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1562 (Solis-D) Job preparation and training

Precludes participants of job preparation and training programs from filling specified job vacancies in the construction industry.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1574* (Senate Budget And Fiscal Review Committee) Employment Development Department: at-risk youth

Appropriates $1.25 million for job training in Los Angeles, City of Oxnard, City and County of San Francisco, City of Santa Ana, County of Fresno, and the City and County of San Diego, jointly, to support at-risk youth employent demonstration projects.

Chapter 1051, Statutes of 1998

SB 1631 (Knight-R) Enterprise zones: eastern Kern County

Requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to designate an enterprise zone in a county which meets specified criteria on population, military employment and housing vacancy rates, and provides limited enterprise zone benefits to businesses in the designated zone.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1701 (Schiff-D) Juveniles: employment training panel

Expands vocational educational opportunities for teens in CalWORKs, in independent study or in continuation school, or in the State Department of the Youth Authority.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1742 (Karnette-D) Alameda Corridor Cities Economic and Community Dev. Act

Enacts, until January 1, 2002, the Alameda Corridor Cities Economic and Community Development Act which requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to work with representatives from specified organizations to develop a strategic plan that would foster economic development in local communities surrounding the Alameda Corridor.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1744 (Johnston-D) Job training

Revises the elements of an integrated state work force development plan.

Chapter 990, Statutes of 1998

SB 1775 (Rainey-R) California Industrial Development Financing Act

Abolishes the California Industrial Development Financing Advisory Commission and transfers some of its functions to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, extends the sunset on authorization of local industrial development authorities issuance of bonds, allows industrial development bonds to be used for specified commercial activities, and deletes existing statutory provisions concerning use of bonds.

Vetoed by the Govenror

SB 1881 (Monteith-R) Enterprise zones: research and development

Requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to create another enterprise zone in a county which (a) has a population of 1.2 million or less; (b) has an unemployment rate of at least 15%; (c) has at least 30% of its population on public assistance, and (d) has a median family income of $29,000 or less. Is intended to assist Merced County in luring research and development activities to the new University of California campus area.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

SB 2079 (Costa-D) Enterprise zones

Makes a variety of changes with respect to enterprise zones which includes (a) permitting theTrade and Commerce Agency to extend the life of a zone created before 1990 from 15 years to 20 years; (b) permitting smaller zones to be expanded by 20%, rather than 15%; (c) making data processing and communications equipment and motion picture manufacturing equipment eligible for the sales tax credit; (d) reinstating previous provisions which change how enterprise zone business income is apportioned between the zone and elsewhere for purposes of claiming deductions and credits; and (e) permitting the Trade and Commerce Agency to terminate an enterprise zone designation for zones which are not performing satisfactorily.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

Provisions of this bill were placed into AB 2798* (Machado-D), a Budget trailer bill, which became Chapter 323, Statutes of 1998.

SB 2190 (Polanco-D) Job training: at-risk youth

Establishes a demonstration project at nine sites to provide job training to "at-risk youth". Defines at-risk youth as persons between 16 and 22 years old, considered to be at-risk of homelessness, crime, or welfare dependency, and who lack employment skills. Requires the State Department of Employment Development to oversee the project and to prepare an evaluation by January 1, 2002.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SB 2196 (Vasconcellos-D) Needy families: job training

Revises the schedule of activities under the Job Creation Investment Fund provisions of the 1997 Welfare Reform Act and specifies the use of the 1998 Budget Act appropriation.

Chapter 901, Statutes of 1998

AB 9* (Campbell-R) Taxation: capital gains: exclusion

Excludes from taxation under both the Personal Income Tax and Bank and Corporations Tax laws, income from the sale or exchange of a "California capital asset," as specified.

(Failed passage in Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee)

AB 82* (Villaraigosa-D) Economic development

Extends the sunset date for the Los Angeles Revitalization Zone (LARZ) from January 1, 1998, to January 1, 2003, and requires the State Franchise Tax Board to design forms for gathering specified information on the LARZ and to report to the Legislature and Governor. Adds legislative intent language.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

AB 382* (Ducheny-D) Needy families: job training

Enacts provisions implementing welfare-to-work programs and appropriates approximately $162 million in federal funds (which the state will receive as its first allocation in federal welfare-to-work funding) for the 1997-98 fiscal year.

Chapter 6, Statutes of 1998

AB 419 (Baca-D) Community colleges: job training

Provides funding to enhance community college programs and services for welfare recipients in need of job training, support services, and job placement. Appropriates $41.9 million from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 539* (Firestone-R) Bank and corporation taxes: manufacturers' investment credit

Specifies, under the Bank and Corporation Tax Law, that affiliated corporations filing a single combined report are considered qualified to take a share of the manufacturers' investment credit (MIC) if one or more of the taxpayer's affiliates qualifying for the MIC are unable to use up the entire credit.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 616 (Runner-R) Aerospace Strategic Plan Task Force

Establishes the Aerospace Strategic Plan Task Force in state government, to consist of a specified membership, and requires the task force to prepare a statewide aerospace industry in the state.

(Died in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, and Economic Development Committee)

AB 638 (Alby-R) Military services privatization zone: tax incentives

Designates a portion of McClellan Air Force Base as a Military Services Privatization Zone pilot project and provides certain regulatory, tax and other incentives to businesses located within the zone.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 648* (Kaloogian-R) Personal income and bank and corporation taxes: credits

Deletes the eight or ten-year limited carryover provision for the manufacturers' investment credit, thereby providing for an unlimited carryover. Also deletes a reference to future versions of the standard industrial classification.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 678 (Aguiar-R) Community College Job Training Program

Creates the Community College Job Training Program to authorize community colleges, with the approval of the State Department of Employment Development, to enter into agreements to establish projects and provide program services to an employer.

(Died in Assembly Rules Committee)

AB 706* (Ackerman-R) Bank and corporation taxes: credits: manufacturers

Specifies that the recapture provisions of the manufacturers' investment credit do not apply to transactions described in certain Internal Revenue Code sections regarding mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations if the property is not removed from the state or put to a nonqualified use as a result of the transaction.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 809 (Escutia-D) Industrial, manufacturing, construction, or goods movement

Enacts the Industrial, Manufacturing, Construction, or Goods Movement Incentive Zone Demonstration Program, which requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to designate one incentive zone in Northern California and one incentive zone in Southern California. Allows qualified businesses (i.e., industrial, manufacturing, and goods movement businesses) located in these incentive zones to claim tax benefits similar to those available to businesses located in enterprise zones.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 899 (Napolitano-D) Calif. Regional Collaboratives Economic Development Program

Creates the Regional Partnering Initiatives Program in the Trade and Commerce Agency, until January 1, 2005, and specifies that funding be contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature. Creates the Regional Partnership Initiatives Fund. The program is intended to assist community regional collaboratives to leverage state resources in order to facilitate business growth and competitiveness.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 955 (Ortiz-D) California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank

Appropriates $10 million from the General Fund to the Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, administered by the Trade and Commerce Agency, for a loan to Sacramento County for life-safety and code compliance projects related to the rehabilitation of McClellan Air Force Base.

Failed passage in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, and Economic Development Committee)

AB 1149 (Lempert-D) Community colleges: public-private partnership

Establishes three new personal income tax and bank corporation tax credits for donations to community colleges of (1) "state of the art" equipment, (2) modifications to a facility, or (3) money to maintain a facility. Makes these credits effective for the 1997 through 2001 tax years.

Authorizes a community college district to contract with employers to offer courses at a location determined in the contract that would be closed to the public.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1185 (Knox-D) Job training: plan development

Provides for the development of a more efficient and streamlined process for state administration of workforce education and preparation programs.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1187 (Knox-D) Small business: Business Incubation Program

Changes the name of the New Business Incubator Enterprise Program with the Trade and Commerce Agency to the Business Incubation Program. Revises program qualifications, and revises the deadline for issuing grants by requiring grant funds to be encumbered no later than one year from the date they become available to the Trade and Commerce Agency for that purpose, and requires the Office of Small Business to evaluate and report its findings to the Legislature on a biennial basis commencing January 1, 2000.

Chapter 577, Statutes of 1998

AB 1235 (Leach-R) Administrative regulations: adverse job creation impact

Requires the State and Consumer Agency, commencing on January 1, 1999 and every four years after January 1, 2003, to establish a schedule to review regulations for duplication and consistency. Requires the agency to file an order of repeal with regard to any regulation that it deems is duplicative or overlaps with another state or federal regulation without providing added benefits.

(Failed passage in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, and Economic Development Committee)

AB 1708* (Leach-R) Taxes: credit: qualified wages and equipment

Authorizes a tax credit in an amount equal to 50% of qualified wages paid or incurred during the taxable or income year, up to $5,000 per year. To qualify for this credit, the qualified wages must be paid to an employee enrolled in a training program administered by the State Department of Employment Development or taught at an accreditied vocation school or community college.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1752 (Davis-D) Business investments

Enacts the "California Seed Capital and Early Stage Corporation Act" in order to mobilize private financial assistance to new and early stage companies in California.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

AB 1779* (Runner-R) Taxes: credits: Joint Strike Fighter program

Authorizes income tax credits or qualiied wages and qualified property costs under contracts/subcontracts for the manufacture of property in California for ultimate use in the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Strike Fighter program.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1881 (Thompson-R) Economic development: Indian tribes

Encourages state agecies to contact with Indian tribes on economic matters and the State Department of Housing and Community Development to report the steps taken by state agencies in cooperating with federally recognized Indian tribes on matters of economic development.

Chapter 397, Statutes of 1998

AB 1891 (Davis-D) Small business financial development corporations

Forbids individual Small Business Financial Development Corporations (SBFDCs), which administer the state's small business loan guarantee program, from having an outstanding guarantee liability of more than five times the amount of funds on deposit for the purpose of providing loan guarantees. Requires that the director of the Office of Small Business in the Trade and Commerce Agency meet at least once per fiscal year with the board of directors of each SBFDC.

Chapter 153, Statutes of 1998

AB 1937 (Murray-D) Economic development: enterprise zones

Requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to designate an additional enterprise zone in Los Angeles County with specified boundaries. Provides that all tax incentives provided to existing enterprise zones under the Revenue and Taxation Code apply to the enterprise zone designated under this act.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2059 (Aroner-D) Jobs

Establishes the Communities First! Jobs program within the State Department of Employment Development (EDD) and under the supervision of the program director employed by EDD, for the purpose of creating public service jobs.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2205* (Washington-D) Economic Development and Job Creation Program

Enacts the Economic Development and Job Creation Program, which requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to designate one city within the Los Angeles Revitalization Zone (LARZ) for the application of the following LARZ tax incentives for taxble or income years beginning on or after January 1, 1998, and before January 1, 2003: the sales and use tax credit, the hiring credit, business expense deduction, and special net operating loss treatment.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2454* (Murray-D) Transportation services: CalWORKs recipients

Appropriates $10 million from the Federal Trust Fund to the State Department of Social Services for CalWORKs program services to be used for funding transportation services for CalWORKs participants, as specified.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2480 (Prenter-R) Trade and Commerce Agency: Internet website

Requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to establish and maintain a publicly accessible website on the Internet, as specified. Requires the website to include "all information on publicly available grant and loan programs for local governments, businesses, and community based organizations", as detailed.

(Failed passage in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, and Economic Development Committee)

AB 2549 (Bordonaro-R) Office of Aerospace Competitiveness

Creates the Office of Aerospace Competitiveness within the Trade and Commerce Agency to develop a plan for California to compete with other states to secure business from military contracts, to secure a lead role for the state as a launch facility for future space flights, to track the efforts of, and inducements offered by, other states to lure aerospace and space launch contracts and propose a strategy to respond to those efforts and inducements, and to direct the State Department of Transportation to develop routes on state highways for oversized commercial and aerospace loads.

(Died in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Effeciency, and Economic Development Committee)

AB 2634 (Aroner-D) CalWORKs: administration: eligibility

Makes additional reforms to California's welfare program (CalWORKs). Implements a number of simplification provisions involving welfare eligibility requirements.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2779* (Aroner-D) Economic development: Budget trailer bill

1. Requires that funds appropriated to the Employment Training Panel (ETP) by the Budget Act of 1998, that are not encumbered by June 30, 1999, be returned to the Employment Training Fund.
2. Makes a technical change to clarify that local government units are liable to the State Employment Development Department for certain federal welfare-to-work fnds distributed to the local government units that are not expended in accordance with state and federal welfare-to-work grant provisions.
3. Prohibits the ETP from charing administrative costs for disencumbered funds, for the 1998-99 fiscal year.
4. Requires ETP to conduct outreach and offer technical assistance to employers in rural counties.

Chapter 329, Statutes of2 1998

AB 2794* (Assembly Budget Committee) Economic development: State Budget augmentations

Appropriates $100,000 to the Trade and Commerce Agency toward meeting the Manufacturing Technology Program, as specified. Appropriates $200,000 for the purpose of restoring baseball in the inner cities as part of a program for at-risk youths.

Chapter 1050, Statutes of 1998

AB 2797* (Cardoza-D) Economic development: tax incentives

A Budget trailer bill which among other provisions, contains a number of federal tax conformity items which will be beneficial to businesses.

Chapter 322, Statutes of 1998

AB 2798* (Machado-D) Taxation

Enacts ten tax law changes, contingent on passage of Proposition 7 on the November 1998 ballot. If this bill is chaptered and Proposition 7 fails, the following ten provisions would be enacted: extension of the sunset date on the Employer Child Care Program and the Employer Child Care Contribution credits; extend the manufacturing investment credit to computer software; provide 80% conformity to federal research and development tax credits; grant a permanent sales tax exemption for property purchased for use in space flights originating in California; increase the medical deduction for self-employed individuals to 40% beginning in the 1999 tax year; conform California law with certain provisions of federal estate tax law; provide a 5% General Fund sales tax exemption for property used in teleproduction or postproduction; reduce the minimum franchise tax on small corporations during their initial two years of business; provide a sales tax exemption for perennial plants; and make several changes to expand enterprise zones, and change the formulas used to calculate the value of tax incentives under all of the state's geographically-based economic development programs. If Proposition 7 passes, all of the provisions of this bill will be rendered inoperative as of the bill's effective date.

Chapter 323, Statutes of 1998

AB 2809* (Assembly Revenue And Taxation Committee) Economic development areas: tax incentives

Makes technical amendments to the state's laws governing economic development areas (e.g., enterprise zones, Los Angeles Revitalization Zone, Local Area Military Base Reuse Areas, Targeted Tax Areas and Manufacutring Enhancement Areas).

Chapter 1039, Statutes of 1998

ACR 106 (Oller-R) State ski industry

Commends the state ski industry for all their service, dedication, and commitment to the safety of California skiers.

Resolution Chapter 137, Statutes of 1998

ACR 117 (Machado-D) Hire-A-Veteran Week

Designates the week of May 3 to May 9, 1998, as Hire-A-Veteran Week.

Resolution Chapter 48, Statutes of 1998

ACR 192 (Runner-R) Aerospace development

Memorializes the President and CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corporation to choose California as the site for the development, production, and launch of VentureStar, the next general commercial space launch vehicle, and for future commercial space activities.

Resolution Chapter 182, Statutes of 1998

AJR 31 (Martinez-D) Job creation and infrastructure restoration

Memorializes the President and the Congress to enact House Resolution No. 950, which is the "Job Creation and Infrastructure Restoration Act."

(Died in Assembly Rules Committee)

AJR 64 (Richter-R) High technology: workers

Memorializes the President and the Congress of the United States to lift caps on H-1B visas issued to skilled nonimmigrant workers, provides scholarships and other incentives to low-income Americans in specified technical fields, and provides scholarships and other incentives for unemployed persons to seek retraining in information technology fields.

(Refused adoption in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

World Trade and Tourism

SJR 19 (McPherson-R) Cruise ships

Expresses the support of the Legislature for the efforts of the Cruising America: Promote Tourism and Jobs Coalition to pursue changes to the Passenger Services Act, as recommended by the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism, to open up the United States coastal cruising market without compromising the operations of existing or future operators of cruise ships registered under the flag of the United States.

(Died in Senate Rules Committee)

AB 697 (Davis-D) Trade and Commerce Agency: program benchmarks

Requires the Trade and Commerce Agency to develop, by July 1, 1999, quantifiable performance criteria for its programs.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 894 (Napolitano-D) Trade and Commerce Agency

Reorganizes the Trade and Commerce Agency into four major divisions: the Division of International Trade and Investment, the Division of Economic Development, the Division of Economic Research and Strategic Initiatives, and the Office of Tourism.

(Died on the Senate Inactive File)

AB 895 (Napolitano-D) Technology Export Market Development Program

Establishes the Technology Export Market Development Grant Program within the Trade and Commerce Agency to expand foreign market opportunities for California-based companies.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 897 (Napolitano-D) Service Sector Export Market Development Program

Establishes the Service Sector Export Market Development Program in the Trade and Commerce Agency to provide support services to facilitate the export of California services worldwide and to work in tandem with federal programs to maximize support to the service sector in California.

(Died in Assembly International Trade and Development Committee)

AB 898 (Napolitano-D) Commemoration of Japanese American fishing community

Appropriates $148,000 from the General Fund to the State Controller for allocation to the Port of Los Angeles for the creation of a Japanese American Fishing Memorial to be located at Terminal Island.

Chapter 568, Statutes of 1998

Similar legislation was ACR 19 (Napolitano-D), which died in Assembly International Trade and Development Committee)

AB 901 (Napolitano-D) State Strategic Plan for International Trade Promotion

Requires the California State World Trade Commission to prepare a State Strategic Plan for International Trade Promotion and to submit the plan and recommendations to the Legislature and specified constitutional officers by January 31, 2000.

Vetoed by the Governor.

AB 1762 (Ducheny-D) Overseas trade offices

Requires the state to establish an overseas trade office in Manila, Philippines.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 2050 (Ashburn-R) Calif. International Agricultural Trade Center Initiative

Creates the California International Agricultural Trade Center Initiative within the Trade and Commerce Agency (TCA). TCA is to provide one-time seed money, through a competitive grant process, to establish a regional international agricultural trade center.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 2493 (Bustamante-D) Foreign marketing

Appropriates $135,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) for the purpose of conducting foreign market research, conducting personnel training, and performing other existing duties of the DFA related to the Foreign Market Development Export-Incentive Program.

Chapter 574, Statutes of 1998

HR 21 (Napolitano-D) Foreign trade

Resolves that the Legislature believes that establishing state trade offices in Canada and South America should be top priorities.

(Died in Assembly International Trade and Development Committee)

HR 34 (Napolitano-D) International trade

Resolves that the Assembly supports the holding of an International Trade Conference on October 17 and 18, 1997, and that it is the policy of the Assembly to accept payments or donations from the public for that purpose.

(Died in Assembly International Trade and Development Committee)

AB 7X (Oller-R) Tourism: promotion campaign

Appropriates $1 million to the Trade and Commerce Agency for the purpose of funding a tourism promotion campaign to publicize the state's recreational facilities, including those flooded in the January 1997 floods and the availability of alternate routes open to tourist destinations.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

Small Business

SB 393 (Rosenthal-D) Health care coverage: mid-sized employer coverage

Requires health insurance carriers to offer and issue coverage to mid-sized employer groups (those with 51 to 100 employees) on a "guaranteed issue" basis, subject to conditions similar to those imposed on carriers in the small group (two to 50 employees) market.

Vetoed by the Governor

Similar to SB 1281 (Brulte-R), which died in Assemby Health Committee.

SB 702 (Polanco-D) Manufacturing Technology Program

Repeals and re-establishes a modified Manufacturing Technology Program within the Trade and Commerce Agency, to be overseen by a specified Manufacturing Excellence Council. Makes numerous declarations about the importance of manufacturing, particularly small manufacturing (defined as those with fewer than 500 employees), to California and the need for improved coordination of existing resources between state agencies and the higher education system to help define a "state small manufacturing vision."

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1085 (Watson-D) CalWORKs: eligibility: small businesses

Creates a pilot project in which CalWORKs recipients and other eligible low-income persons can receive self-employment training.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1281 (Brulte-R) Health care coverage: mid-sized employer coverage

Defines employers with 51 to100 employees as "mid-sized" employers for purposes of purchasing health insurance. Requires that insurers serving mid-size employers use the definition of dependent, eligible employee, late enrollee and risk rating categories (age, geographic region, family size) consistent with those of smaller employers with two to 50 employees. Allows benefit plans to be established solely for mid-size employers.

(Died in Assembly Health Committee)

SB 1435* (Hayden-D) Bank and corporation taxes: minimum franchise tax

Reduces the minimum franchise tax for newly operating corporations from $800 to $300 annually for the first two years of business, if the corporations's gross receipts are less than $1 million.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

Contained in AB 2798* Machado-D), a Budget Trailer Bill, which beame Chapter 323, Statutes of 1998.

SB 1688 (Karnette-D) California Small Business Opportunities Act of 1998

Enacts the California Small Business Opportunities Act of 1998 and establishes the California Small Business Networks Program within the Trade and Commerce Agency. Specifies that the California Small Business Networks Program will administer the Small Business Network Formation Grant Program.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1790 (Rosenthal-D) Health care coverage: small employer coverage

Allows small employers, with between two and 50 employees, to provide health coverage to their employees who work 20-29 hours per week on the same basis as their employees who work 30 or more hours per week.

Chapter 418, Statutes of 1998

SB 2189 (Vasconcellos-D) Small business venture funds

Creates the Capital Access Company Law, which provides for the licensure and regulation of capital access companies which provide risk capital and management assistance, primarily to small businesses in California. Specifies that these provisions become effective on July 1, 1999.

Chapter 668, Statutes of 1998

SCR 95 (Solis-D) Small Business Week

Requests the Governor to proclaim the week of May 31, 1998, through June 6, 1998, as California Small Business Week, in conjunction with national Small Business Week.

Resolution Chapter 70, Statutes of 1998

AB 60 (Strom-Martin-D) Business development

Requires the California Small Business Board to establish the North Coast Small Business Development Corporation to serve Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino Counties. Sets forth legislative findings, and appropriates $800,000 from the General Fund to the Small Business Expansion Fund for its purposes.

(Died in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency and Economic Development Committee)

AB 632 (Cardenas-D) Employment Development Department: programs

Permits the State Department of Employment Development to include small business seminars conducted by private organizations in its efforts to educate taxpayers.

Chapter 165, Statutes of 1998

AB 1187 (Knox-D) Small business: Business Incubation Program

Changes the name of the New Business Incubator Enterprise Program within the Trade and Commerce Agency to the Business Incubation Program. Revises program qualifications, revises the deadline for issuing grants, and requires the Office of Small Business to evaluate the program and report its findings to the Legislature on a biennial basis, commencing January 1, 2000.

Chapter 577, Statutes of 1998

AB 1891 (Davis-D) Small business financial development corporations

Forbids individual Small Business Financial Development Corporations (SBFDC's), which administer the state's small business loan guarantee program, from having an outstanding guarantee liability of more than five times the amount of funds on deposit for the purpose of providing loan guarantees. Requires that the director of the Office of Small Business in theTrade and Commerce Agency meet at least once per fiscal year with the board of directors of each SBFDC.

Chapter 153, Statutes of 1998

AB 2405 (Leach-R) Small business contracts

Requires the small business advocate in the State Department of General Services (DGS) to assist small businesses in specified ways; and requires each state agency to designate a small business advocate as a liaison to small business suppliers, and requires state agencies to conduct specified solicitations and acquisition activities.

Chapter 917, Statutes of 1998

AB 2453 (Campbell-R) California Small Business Development Center Program

Revises various aspects of the California Small Business Development Center Program within the Trade and Commerce Agency, including the goals of the program and the activities to be performed by the local small business development centers. Requires the first plan to be completed no later than July 1, 1999, and updated biennially. Establishes the California Small Business Development Center Fund in the State Treasury, and sets forth the sources from which the fund may receive money and the manner in which its monies may be invested.

Chapter 684, Statutes of 1998

AB 2505 (Olberg-R) State contracts

Establishes a clear definition of "small business" in statute for use in state procurement programs.

Chapter 821, Statutes of 1998

AB 2659 (Baugh-R) Small employer health insurance

Allows the Health Insurance Plan of California to provide coverage to employers with between 51-100 employees and renews existing coverage with employers with up to 150 employees.

(Died in Senate Insurance Committee)

AB 2798* (Machado-D) Minimum franchise tax

A Budget Trailer bill which, among other things, reduces the first year's franchise tax for new small business to $300, and further reduces the second year's minimum tax from $800 to $500. Specifies that subsequent years' minimum tax, when applicable for corporations with little or no increase, will continue to be $800, and that the reduced tax will apply to corporations formed in 1999 and thereafter.

Chapter 323, Statutes of 1998

Similar legislation was SB 1435* (Hayden-D), which died in Senate Appropriations Committee, and AB 1419*, which died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Labor Relations

SB 92 (Haynes-R) Minimum wage: deduction of gratuities

Permits employers to deduct gratuities from the minimum wage otherwise due an employee up to the amount permitted in federal law.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 235 (Solis-D) Employment

As it relates to the Fair Employment and Housing Act, clearly identifies the name of the employer by use of the W-2 federal form.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 425 (Hurtt-R) Public works: prevailing wages

Increases, from $1,000 to $10,000, the existing cost threshold in the Labor Code which triggers the payment of prevailing wages on public works projects.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 654 (Johnston-D) Discrimination based on genetic characteristics

Expressly prohibits employment discrimination against healthy individuals with a genetic predisposition for disease under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Chapter 99, Statutes of 1998

SB 655 (Johnston-D) Employment: job training

Revises, for job training purposes, the definition of "eligible participation" to provide that an employed person must earn $60,000 or less annually or $30 or less per hour.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

SB 783 (Mountjoy-R) Employees

Limits the application of the "liberal construction" clause to specific injuries that have resulted in serious bodily harm and only after it has been determined that the injury occurred during employment.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 851 (Kelley-R) Agreements not to compete

Permits a person to enter into a written agreement with his or her employer to refrain from engaging in a business that would directly draw upon significant and specialized training, recruitment, or education provided by the employer if the employee has served the employer less than two years, as specified. Permits the person to enter into an agreement to refrain from directly soliciting existing customers of the employer and to refrain from using trade secrets, customer lists, or other proprietary business information of the employer.

(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 887 (Monteith-R) Employment taxes: consulting services

Requires the State Department of Employment Development to provide employment tax consultation services on a statewide basis to assist employers in avoiding unplanned tax liabilities associated with misclassifying workers.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 901 (Lee-D) Employment

Transfers the administration of the GAIN program from the State Department of Social Services to the State Employment Development Department (EDD). Imposes a penalty on employers who fail to notify the state of any job opening that exists for more than seven days, or fails to accept referral of applicants from job services for any openings. Permits the use of EDD Contingent Fund revenues to support the employment service function. Requires the budget to appropriate the entire amount of the Contingent Fund for the intended purposes in the absence of a legislative finding that state employment services are sufficient to meet the needs of California's workers.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 902 (Lee-D) The Living Wage Contracting Act

Enacts the Living Wage Contracting Act requiring specified employers to pay their employees specified wages, provide specified compensated days off and provide health benefits for employees and their dependents. Provides authority for an employee to bring action in a municipal court for specified employer violations of this bill, and requires the State Department of General Services to monitor compliance.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 966 (Mountjoy-R) Employment: minimum wage

Requires the Industrial Wage Commission to act on adopting a new minimum wage 60 days prior to the scheduled increase in the federal minimum wage.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1043 (Vasconcellos-D) Employment: wages: overtime

Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding the need to provide daily overtime compensation and the need for flexible work schedules where overtime compensation need not be paid.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

SB 1076 (Hayden-D) Employment: crime victims: leave

Requires employers with at least 30 employees to allow up to 120 days of unpaid leave per year for (1) a victim of a violent crime, (2) an employee whose family was a victim, or (3) an employee who has a close relationship with a person who experienced a violent crime in the presence of the employee.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1098 (Kopp-I) Employment: age discrimination

Declares that no employer could offer as a defense to an age discrimination claim brought under the Fair Employment and Housing Act that a younger person could perform the same job for less pay.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1278 (Leslie-R) Termination of employment: limitation on damages

Limits the amount of front pay damages a successful plaintiff could receive in a wrongful termination suit to five years estimated income, minus wages or benefits, actually, or which reasonably could have been, earned. Declares that a cause of action for wrongful termination where there is no specific term of employment could only be brought under specified circumstances.

(Failed passage in Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 1314 (Dills-D) Public works

Exempts owner-operators of trucks that haul construction material off public works project sites from prevailing wage laws.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1431 (Solis-D) Firefighters: conditions of employment

Provides that no firefighter employment contract shall include a requirement that a firefighter reimburse the local agency public employer for training expenses.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1506 (Hayden-D) Employment: family care and medical leave

Expands the provisions of family care and medical leave law to provide that an employee may take such leave to care for a person other than a child, spouse or parent.

(Refused passage on the Senate Floor)

SB 1513 (Knight-R) Alcoholic beverages: smoking lounges

Permits smoking in bars, card clubs, bingo facilities, and the bar areas of restaurants, as specified. Creates new exceptions to the state's workplace smoking ban by providing that alcoholic beverage licensees who operate bars, gaming establishments, or restaurants, may obtain from the State Department of Alcoholic Bevertge Control either a Class I or Class II smoking lounge endorsement, depending on the type of license the establishment maintains.

(Failed pasage in Assembly Governmental Organization Committee)

SB 1515 (Solis-D) Joint Enployment Strike Force on the Underground Economy

Directs at least 10% of the amounts appropriated in the 1998 Budget Act for the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy to enforcement within the building maintenance industry.

(Refused passage on the Senate Floor)

SB 1610 (Burton-D) Public works contracts: worker residency

Requires that at least 50% of the total worker hours performed on a public works job be performed by workers who are residents of the state.

(Refused passage on the Assembly Floor)

SB 1656 (Polanco-D) State and local government finance

Among other provisions, appropriates $3 million from the General Fund to the California Arts Concil in augmentation of specified items in the Budget Act of 1998 relating to the council.

(Died on Assembly Third Reading File)

SB 1694 (Rosenthal-D) Health care service plans

Requires the Governor to designate a state agency to enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor regarding regulation of health plans maintained by "self-insured" employers.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SB 1743 (Johnston-D) Temporary employment agencies

Requires the disclosure of specified wage information by temporary employment agencies.

(Refused passage on the Senate Floor)

SB 1872 (McPherson-R) Employment: hours and overtime pay

Conforms state law to recent federal labor law changes exempting high-skilled computer industry occupations where compensation is at least $27.63 per hour from maximum hour and overtime premium laws.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1933 (Johnston-D) Alien workers

Provides that any employee who would have been eligible for Workers' Compensation or State Disability Insurance under the rules that applied on August 21, 1996, regardless of immigrant status, will continue to be eligible as long as the employee meets all other requirements.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1967 (Solis-D) Employees

Establishes civil liability and penalties for persons engaged in business as processors and/or shippers of strawberries when a grower or producer commits employment safety violations.

(Refused passage on Senate Floor)

Similar legislation was SB 46 (Solis-D), which died in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

SB 1968 (Solis-D) Part-time and contingent employments

Requires parity in pay and benefits between persons regularly employed on a full-time basis and persons employed on a part-time or intermittent basis or employed in the home, provided that the employer employs 20 or more employees.

(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

SB 2002 (Rosenthal-D) Overtime: telephone corporation employees

Prohibits employees that are telephone corporations with annual gross revenues over $200 million from requiring employees subject to collective bargaining agreements to work in excess of eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, except as specified.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 2054 (Thompson-D) Employment of minors: agricultural packing plants

Extends, until January 1, 2002, the sunset for the Lake County agricultural packing plants to employ minors 16 and 17 years of age up to 60 hours per week during nonschool periods.

Chapter 237, Statutes of 1998

SB 2094 (Watson-D) California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids

Makes a number of changes to the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program to incorporate changes in federal law, clarify interpretations of the original legislation (AB 1542) and address issues not considered in that legislation.

(Refused passage on Senate Floor)

SB 2096 (Mountjoy-R) Employment: free agents

Creates a class of workers known as free agents who would be responsible for purchasing their own insurance to replace workers' compensation, state disability and unemployment insurance.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 2173 (Leslie-R) Employment: employment application fees

Prohibits an employer from charging an employment application fee to an employee or applicant.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

Similar legislation was AB 1570 (Bustamante-D), which became Chapter 442, Statutes of 1998.

SB 2176 (Lockyer-D) Civil rights: business practices

Requires the Civil Rights Enforcement Unit of the Department of Justice to investigate complaints and presents civil rights complaints in California's employment, education, and business practices in the name of the people.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 2192 (Vasconcellos-D) Employment: age discrimination

Reconfirms California's strong public policy against age discrimination in employment. Declares the Legislature's rejection of the opinion in Marks v. Loral Corp., supra, and states that the opinion does not affect existing law in any way, including, but not limited to, the law pertaining to disparate treatment. Declares the intent of the Legislature that, among other things, the use of salary as the basis for differentiating between employees when terminating employment may be found to constitute age discrimination if use of this criterion disproportionately affects older workers as a group.

(Died at Assembly Desk)

SB 2206 (Mountjoy-R) Employment: wrongful termination

Creates a presumption that any termination of an employee done pursuant to a written policy of progressive steps of discipline or based upon a material breach of duty owed the employer is not "wrongful". Declares that the employer's presumption may be rebutted by "clear and convincing evidence".

(Failed passage n Senate Judiciary Committee)

SCR 24 (Lockyer-D) Public works projects: prevailing wage rate formula

Declares that the Legislature has relied upon established definitions of the general prevailing rate of per diem wages in amending and extending the law, and declares that changing those definitions administratively would be contrary to the Legislature's intent for the reason that the existing definitions are now implicit in the statutory provisions.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

AB 15 (Knox-D) Employment: overtime

Requires a public or private employer who provides a paid sick leave policy to permit an employee to use up to half the existing sick leave to attend to the illness of a child.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 159 (Ackerman-R) Minimum wage: deduction of gratuities

Prohibits an employer or agent from demanding any gratuity paid to, given to, or left for an employee by a patron from wages due the employee.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 297 (Vincent-D) Gaming clubs: bars and taverns: smoking

Provides that the exception in existing law to the restriction and prohibition of smoking of tobacco products in an enclosed space at a place of employment for bars and taverns and gaming clubs continues until January 1, 2001 and thereafter is prohibited unless the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration adopts a standard for reduction of permissible exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

(Died in Senate Health and Human Services Committee)

AB 310 (Kuehl-D) Fair employment and housing

Prohibits, for the purposes of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, an agent or supervisor from harassing any employee, as specified, extends the prohibition of harassment to include a person who provides services under contract, as defined, prohibits genetic testing, and requires an employer to reasonably accommodate a pregnant female.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 368 (Floyd-D) Firefighters

Provides that when a female firefighter is pregnant, the firefighter and her physician shall determine when the health of the firefighter would render it advisable for her to cease the active duties of firefighting.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 413 (Aguiar-R) Public works: prevailing wages

Makes it a misdemeanor for any officer, agent, or representative of the state or any political subdivision to split or separate any public works project into smaller work orders or projects for the purpose of evading the requirement to pay prevailing wage rates on public works projects.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 453 (Kuykendall-R) Public works: prevailing wages

Increases the current prevailing wage rates from $1,000 to $100,000 on public works projects.

(Failed passage in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 480 (Knox-D) Employment: sick leave

Requires an employer who provides a paid sick leave policy to permit an employee to use the sick leave policy to attend to the illness of a child, parent, or spouse.

(Refused passage on Senate Floor)

AB 574 (Villaraigosa-D) Employment: arbitration agreements

Prohibits an employer from requesting or requiring an employee to agree to arbitration prior to the existence of an actual dispute or as a condition of employment, and makes it unlawful to harass or discriminate against a person who opposes any unlawful employment practice identified in this bill.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 604 (Kuykendall-R) Employment Development Department

Allows a worker, or his or her representative, to receive copies of his or her wage information at no charge. Allows the disclosure of confidential wage and employment information to private entities for the purposes of credit transactions, subject to the State Department of Employment Development's completion of an evaluation of similar programs in other states.

Chapter 766, Statutes of 1998

AB 744 (Washington-D) Employment of minors: entertainment industry

Precludes the employment of infants under the age of one month on a motion picture set, unless specified conditions are satisfied.

Chapter 239, Statutes of 1998

AB 810 (Escutia-D) Employees: independent contractors

Requires the director of the State Department of Employment Development (EDD) to convene, not later than March 1, 1999, a task force to recommend changes for simplifying and expediting communications of EDD to interested parties regarding the employment status of workers as employees or independent contractors. Requires a report to the director of EDD and to the Legislature.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 831 (Poochigian-R) Public works: payment bond

Limits the liability of a general contractor on a public works project for its subcontractors' failure to pay mandatory payroll taxes when the subcontractor does not certify that it paid, or will pay, such taxes on a certified payroll form issued by the state.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

AB 977 (Oller-R) Public works: public schools

Excludes public school facilities projects from the requirement in existing law that any workers employed for projects over $1,000 be paid not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the project is performed, except as required by federal law.

(Failed passage in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1131 (Oller-R) Taxation: employees

Provides that if services provided by an individual meet certain criteria, the servicer provider shall not be treated as an employee and the service recipient shall not be treated as an employer, for purposes of payments and withholdings from wages to be paid to the State Department of Employment Development.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 1146 (Brewer-R) Employment: hazardous substances

Repeals the requirement that a copy of a material safety data sheet be provided to the State Department of Industrial Relations. Authorizes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to respond to a complaint of a non-serious violation by mailing a correction notice to the employer.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1184 (Shelley-D) Employment: minimum wage

Increases the state minimum wage from $5.75 to $6.50 per hour, effective March 1, 1999.

(Died on Assemby Unfinished Business File)

AB 1207* (Assembly Labor And Employment Committee) Wages of motion picture employees

Permits industry employers to pay laid off employees by the next regularly scheduled payday and clarifies the distinction between employees who are laid off and those that are unconditionally terminated.

Chapter 37, Statutes of 1998)

AB 1208 (Migden-D) Occupational safety and health: bloodborne pathogen

Requires the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (COSHSB) to revise its bloodborne pathogen standard to include consideration of sharps prevention technology and a requirement that written exposure control plans include a procedure identifying and selecting sharps prevention technology. Requires COSHSB to compile and maintain a list of existing needleless systems and needles with sharps injury protection.

Chapter 999, Statutes of 1998

AB 1240 (Goldsmith-R) Public works: prevailing wages

Exempts public works projects of $10,000 or less from the requirement that prevailing wages be paid to workers.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1267 (Assembly Labor And Employment Committee) Fair employment and housing: civil penalties

Increases, from $25,000 to $50,000, the civil penalty which the Fair Employment and Housing Commission is authorized to assess against a complaint respondent who has engaged in any unlawful practice.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1307 (Bordonaro-R) Employment: wage orders

Streamlines the process whereby the Industrial Welfare Commission issues its Orders and initiates a summary of specified regulations.

Chapter 150, Statutes of 1998

AB 1569 (Floyd-D) Public works: contractor eligibility

Prohibits, for three years, a public works contractor from engaging a subcontractor on a public project if the subcontractor has violated certain provisions of the Labor Code, with intent to defraud. Requires the Labor Commission to notify public agencies as to which contractors and subcontractors are excluded from contracting.

Chapter 443, Statutes of 1998

AB 1570 (Bustamante-D) Employment applications

Prohibits an employer from charging an employment application fee.

Chapter 442, Statutes of 1998

Similar legislation was SB 2173 (Leslie-R), which died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee.

AB 1643 (Escutia-D) Employment: age discrimination

Affirms California's strong public policy against age discrimination in employment by clarifying that the Legislature never intended to afford less protection to victims of age discrimination than to victims of race, sex and other discrimination, and invalidates a recent controversial appellate case which eliminated one of the two proof theories available to age discrimination victims.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 1684 (Floyd-D) Employment: minimum wage

Enacts the Living Wage Act of 1998, which requires that the minimum wage for all industries be at least $6.75 per hour on and after January 1, 1999.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1842 (Baldwin-R) Employment: discrimination on basis of sexual orientation

Excludes, from the definition of "employer", a corporation not organized for private profit and not primarily engaged in commercial activity, with respect to prohibiting discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1870 (Kuehl-D) Employment: family care and medical leave

Expands the purpose for which family care and medical leave may be taken to include the care of a child of the employee who is unable to attend school or day care for health reasons, other than a serious health condition, as defined.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 1940 (Torlakson-D) Permanent amusement rides: safety

Provides for employee training, the reporting of injuries, and insurance relating to permanent amusement rides.

(Failed passage in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1957 (Knox-D) Cal-OSHA targeted inspection and consultation programs

Extends the sunset date for funding procedures for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration targeted inspection consultation program from January 1, 1999, to January 1, 2000.

Chapter 814, Statutes of 1998

AB 2042 (Goldsmith-R) Public works: stop notices

Clarifies that a public agency may satisfy its duty to withhold funds pursuant to a stop notice, by refusing to release money held in escrow.

Chapter 111, Statutes of 1998

AB 2139* (McClintock-R) Labor organizations: Right to Work Act

Enacts the Right to Work Act, and declares it to be the public policy of the state that the right to work shall not be subject to undue restraint or coercion or infringed or restricted based upon membership in, affiliation with, or financial support of a defined labor organization.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 2148 (Pacheco-R) Employment: damages

Reduces the damages a wrongfully terminated employee may receive if the employee does not diligently seek an "appropriate" new job, even if it is one for substantially less money, which may require relocating to another state.

(Failed passage in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 2156 (Keeley-D) Employment: discrimination

Conforms the filing time limit of a discrimination complaint in the Labor Code (30 days) to similar violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act in the Government Code (one year).

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2191 (Granlund-R) Employees: workplace smoking prohibition

Permits smoking in gaming clubs, bars, and taverns, where each full-time employee agrees that tobacco products may be smoked at the place of employment, as specified.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 2303 (Runner-R) Employment surveillance: notice

Prohibits an employer from audio or video recording of employees in rest rooms and change rooms.

Chapter 515, Statutes of 1998

AB 2317 (Knox-D) Occupational safety and health

Increases the maximum term of imprisonment for certain offenses related to violation of specified occupational safety or health provisions causing the death or impairment of an employee.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 2378 (House-R) Employee drug testing

Provides that it is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to require an employee to submit, on a random basis, to a test to detect the unlawful use of a controlled substance, as specified.

(Failed passage in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 2522 (Assembly Labor And Employment Committee) State employee pay

Requires state agency employers to make payment of overtime wages no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2568 (Oller-R) Occupational safety and health: crimes

Changes the scope of liability under corporate criminal liability law, and changes terms and definitions.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 2685 (Alquist-D) Employment: minimum wage

Requires that the minimum wage for all industries be at least $6.50 per hour on and after March 1, 1999. Specifies that the Industrial Welfare Commission must adopt minimum wage orders consistent with this act at a public meeting without covening wage boards, and that these wage orders must be final and conclusive.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2701 (Thomson-D) Occupational safety and health enforcement: construction

Establishes a discretionary investigation procedure for the Division of Occupational Safety and Health regarding construction employers.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 2800 (Assembly Labor And Employment Committee) Occupational health and safety standards: violations

Provides that an employer who repeatedly violates any occupational safety or health standard, order, or special order, or a specified section of the Health and Safety Code, shall not receive any adjustment of a penalty on the basis of specified regulations.

(Passage refused on Assembly Floor)

ACR 123 (Havice-D) Older Workers Employment Week

Designates the week of April 19-25, 1998, as Older Workers Employment Week.

(Died in Assembly Rules Committee)

ACR 129 (Wildman-D) Workers Memorial Day

Designates April 28, 1998, as Workers Memorial Day.

(Died in Senate Rules Committee)

ACR 190 (Kaloogian-R) Workplace Fitness Month

Proclaims the month of October 1998 as Workplace Fitness Month in California, and encourages all Californians to participate in regular exercise programs and physical activity, for healthier lives and improved work performance and satisfaction.

Resolution Chapter 167, Statutes of 1998

HR 16 (Havice-D) Eight-hour workday

Resolves that the State Assembly recognizes the importance of the eight-hour workday and declares the intent that it should be protected.

(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

Workers' Compensation

SB 51 (Solis-D) Workers' compensation: peace officers: disability

Provides to certain peace officers employed on a regular, full-time basis by Los Angeles County a special worker's compensation benefit consisting of a leave of absence with full pay for up to one year in lieu of temporary disability benefits.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 308 (Monteith-R) Workers' compensation: death benefits

Limits to $52,500 the amount of the death benefit that is paid to the state to help offset the costs of the Subsequent Injury Program when a worker dies as a result of an industrial injury and leaves no heirs.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 370 (Solis-D) Workers' compensation

Provides that if a painter develops or manifests cancer after being exposed to a known carcinogen during employment, the illness is presumed to be compensable for purposes of receiving workers' compensation benefits unless controverted by other evidence provided by the employer.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 410* (Johnston-D) Workers' compensation

Extends the pilot program for combining group health and workers' compensation medical treatment from 36 to 60 months, and requires workers to be advised of their right to predesignate a personal physician from the program.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 453 (Solis-D) Administrative law: ethics

Changes the statutory title of state employees who initially hear and decide disputed workers' compensation cases, from referees to "workers compensation administrative law judges."

Chapter 448, Statutes of 1998

SB 474 (Calderon-D) Workers' compensation

Requires the administrative director of the Division of Workers' Compensation to adopt and revise, no less frequently than annually, an official hospital fee schedule which establishes reasonable maximum fees for medical services provided for purposes of workers' compensation, as specified.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SB 541 (Kopp-I) Workers' compensation: professional athletes

Makes professional athletes who play for non-California teams ineligible for workers' compensation benefits under California law; makes California professional athletes ineligible for workers' compensation benefits for cumulative injuries; and requires workers' compensation indemnity benefits for professional athletes be offset by injury benefits available under a collective bargaining agreement.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 570 (Solis-D) Workers' compensation

Increases maximum temporary disability and permanent total disability benefits from $490 per week to the greater of $574 per week or the state average weekly wages paid to workers covered by unemployment insurance; increases permanent partial benefits by modest amounts; increases the maximum life pension benefit from $154 to $243 per week; and extends the death benefit of totally dependent widows or widowers until death or remarriage.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

SB 622 (Solis-D) Workers' compensation: vocational rehabilitation

Extends a workers' compensation insurance premium credit that currently applies only when an injured worker is employed in modified or alternative work from one to up to three years, and extends the credit to other forms of employment in addition to modified or alternative work.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

SB 783 (Mountjoy-R) Employees

Limits the application of the "liberal construction" clause to specific injuries that have resulted in serious bodily harm and only after it has been determined that the injury occurred during employment.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 881 (Mountjoy-R) Workers' compensation: experience modifications

Provides that only the medical and indemnity costs of an injury or condition caused by employment may be reflected in the employer's workers' compensation insurance experience modification; requires all medical costs of an injury or condition accelerated by work, but otherwise unrelated to work, be paid from the Subsequent Injury Fund (SFI); requires the State Department of Insurance and the appropriate rating organization to estimate the added costs to the SFI from this provision.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 924 (Solis-D) Workers' compensation: payment

Establishes a new penalty of $1,000 per worker for failure to maintain workers' compensation insurance in cases when no stop order is issued.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1004 (Mountjoy-R) Workers' compensation insurance: noncompliance

Establishes a new lower penalty for the failure to obtain workers' compensation insurance for unintentional first violations; prohibits a penalty for a period that an employer obtains retroactive insurance; extends the time for appealing penalty orders; and repeals a provision requiring the appealing party to post a bond.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1237 (Johannessen-R) Workers' compensation: alternative dispute resolution

Allows an alternative dispute resolution process for workers' compensation for employers engaged in manufacturing. Requires a report relating to the number of collective bargaining agreements received pursuant to the bill and the number of employees covered by these agreements.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1406 (Peace-D) Workers' compensation: law enforcement

Establishes a rebuttable presumption of eligibility for workers' compensation benefits for safety employees (peace officers and firefighters) who are stricken with hepatitis.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1430 (Solis-D) Workers' compensation: privacy

Prohibits the release of individually identifiable information in the files of the Division of Workers' Compensation unless the requester identifies him/herself and states the reason for making the request.

Chapter 624, Statutes of 1998

SB 1545 (Johnson-R) Workers' compensation: group insurance

Permits employers who are members of employer groups for purpose of workers' compensation insurance to be treated as individual entities only for calculating dividends.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

SB 1551 (Solis-D) Workers' compensation: audits: penalty assessments

Allows the Division of Workers' Compensation to assess a civil penalty not to exceed $100,000 if it finds that an insurer or self-insured employer has knowingly committed specified acts or performed them with sufficient frequency to indicate a general business practice.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

SB 1695 (Brulte-R) Qualified medical evaluators: osteopathic

Requires the Industrial Medical Council to develop a specialty listing that includes as individual specialties each of the osteopathic specialties recognized by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1817 (Johnston-D) Workers' compensation: work experience education

Permits public school ditricts to continue providing workers' compensation benefits for a transitional period not to exceed three months to students who are enrolled in a work experience or cooperative vocational educational program, even though the students are being paid a cash wage or salary by a private employer.

Chapter 541, Statutes of 1998

SB 1940 (Peace-D) Nurse practitioners and physician asssistants

Requires the inclusion of services provided by physician assistants and nurse practitioners on the official medical fee schedule adopted by the administrative director of the Division of Workers' Compensation.

Chapter 388, Statutes of 1998

SB 1965 (Peace-D) Vocational rehabilitation services

Makes the limitation that currently applies to the settlement or computation of vocational rehabilitation workers' compensation applicable to prospective benefits only.

Chapter 524, Statutes of 1998

SB 2019 (Mountjoy-R) Workers' compensation: classification for apprentices

Gives employers who participate in a state approved apprenticeship program the right to pay the lowest pure premium rate for all workers in that classification.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 2101 (Peace-D) Workers' Compensation Managed Care Fund

Prohibits funds loaned from the General Fund to be used after July 1, 1998, to support the administration of certifying health care organizations, and requires the amount borrowed to be repaid.

Chapter 282, Statutes of 1998

SB 2112 (Peace-D) Workers' compensation: loss control services

Eliminates regulation by the State Department of Industrial Relations of the loss control programs that promote safety in the workplace and that are required to be offered to employers by workers' compensation insurers.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 2144 (Johnson-R) Workers' compensation: negotiated benefits

Extends to the aerospace manufacturing industry the alternative workers' compensation programs that are permitted to be defined and administered through the collective bargaining process.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

AB 204 (Migden-D) Workers' compensation: acupuncturists

Authorizes acupuncturists to determine disaiblity, establishes criteria for acupuncturists to be qualified medical evaluators, and establishes the procedure for injured workers to use to obtain acupuncture treatment when their benefits are provided by a health care organization.

Chapter 440, Statutes of 1998

AB 236 (Figueroa-D) Workers' compensation: medical treatment: interpreters

Provides that an injured worker who is not proficient in English, and who is required to submit to an examination by a treating physician, is entitled to interpreter services.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 449 (Floyd-D) Employment

Increases the statutorily specified caps on compensation which can be ordered for an injured worker as a result of the employer retaliating against the employee for filing a workers' compensation claim.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 462 (Floyd-D) Workers' compensation

Requires the state to pay benefits from the Uninsured Employers Fund (UEF) in cases where the uninsured employer has entered bankruptcy proceedings. Subjects the UEF to the payment of penalties or interest if there is any unreasonable delay in the payment of awards. Provides an exception to paying penalties if the state budget is late.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 840 (Morrissey-R) Workers' compensation: law enforcement

Provides that if certain public safety officers develop or manifest hepatitis C, D, or E during a period of employment, it is presumed that the illness was caused by employment and is compensable for purposes of receiving workers' compensation benefits.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

AB 912 (House-R) Employment discrimination: workers' compensation

Codifies one of two competing court decisions which held that Workers' Compensation is the exclusive remedy for injured workers who claim disabilities discrimination upon returning to work. Carves out an exception into the preemption clause of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which guarantees that FEHA protections preempt any law providing less protection than FEHA. Exempts the Workers' Compensation Act from this protection.

(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 956 (Figueroa-D) Workers' compensation

Increases the allowable workers' compensation benefits payable for partial permanent disability, temporary disability, and dependent widow or widower death benefits.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

AB 975 (Ashburn-R) Workers' compensation: liability: intoxication

Provides that employers may require employees to submit to alcohol or drug tests within three hours after an injury, and creates a presumption that employees who test positive will be disqualified for workers' compensation benefits.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 1183 (Perata-D) Workers' compensation: credit against liability

Prohibits an employer from delaying the payment of an award for workers' compensation benefits for a work-related injury or illness in anticipation of the recovery of amounts from a third party for the same injury or illness.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 1239 (Brewer-R) Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation

Prohibits changes to the disabilities schedule and the standard disability ratings from increasing or decreasing the net cost of workers' compensation insurance to employers.

(Failed passage in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 1244 (Brown-D) Workers' compensation: law enforcement

Creates a rebuttable presumption that certain law enforcement and firefighting personnel who develop or manifest hepatitis C, D or E while serving in their jobs will be eligible for workers' compensation benefits.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1454 (House-R) Business sale: workers' compensation notice

Requires the seller of a privately-owned business to include in any document evidencing the sale of that business a prescribed statement, if applicable, regarding the seller's workers' compensation insurance.

(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 1552 (Figueroa-D) State Compensation Insurance Fund

Authorizes the State Compensation Insurance Fund to issue bonds and securities, update language in state law, and make various conforming and technical changes.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1670 (Morrissey-R) Workers' compensation: firefighters

Establishes an indisputable presumption that leukemia in firefighters employed by public agencies is work-related. Extends to a firefighter following termination of service for a period of three months for each full year of service up to a maximum of 60 months.

(Failed passage in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 1732 (Bowler-R) Workers' compensation: death benefits

Provides that, in the event of death of an employee on the job, the workers' compensation death benefit is payable to the employee's designated beneficiary, and if no beneficiary is designated, to the State Department of Industrial Relations. Currently, death benefits go only to dependents, and, if none exists, to the Subsequent Injuries Fund.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

AB 1751 (Wildman-D) Workers' compensation

Redesignates workers' compensation referees as workers' compensation judges.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 1821 (Ackerman-R) Workers' compensation: treatment

Allows employees to choose their physician after one year, rather than 30 days, from the date the injury is reported.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 1965 (Aguiar-R) Workers' compensation: CalWORKS

Establishes the Transitional Worker Compensation Fund to provide workers' compensation benefits to injured workers who are participating in the CalWORKS program.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 1985 (Brewer-R) Workers' compensation: penalties

Provides that the 10% penalty assessment applies to an unreasonable delay or refusal to pay workers' compensation when a willfull, intentional, or repeated act occurs, but not if the act occurs as a result of a single clerical error.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 2162 (Brown-D) Workers' compensation: appeals board

Requires the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to serve notices directly on all parties to a disputed claim. Currently, the board serves one party and requires the party to serve others with an interest in the claim.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2163 (Brown-D) Workers' compensation

Extends to all employees a benefit that currently is enjoyed only by employees of public self-insured employers and that permits the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to award reasonable attorney fees when benefits are unreasonably delayed.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2173 (Pacheco-R) Firefighters: workers' compensation

Ensures that firefighting emergency response personnel receive workers' compensation benefits for injuries or illnesses sustained while performing off-duty "Good Samaritan" emergency services in good faith within their scope of employment.

Chapter 617, Statutes of 1998

AB 2334 (Baugh-R) Workers' compensation insurance: experience rating

Permits experience rating information to be in the form of media and other forms, in addition to microfiche, that is released to a workers' compensation insurance company, agent or broker.

Chapter 176, Statutes of 1998

AB 2342 (Cunneen-R) Public employees: benefits

Allows surviving spouses of patrol officers who are killed in the line of duty to receive the workers' compensation death benefit, in addition to the death benefit already provided by the Public Employees' Retirement System.

Chapter 770, Statutes of 1998

AB 2470 (Brewer-R) Workers' compensation: liens

Prohibits the filing of liens for medical care or medical-legal services until certain time limits have passed. Requires a lien for medical care or medical-legal services to be filed on a form approved by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and to be accompanied by certain information, including statements under penalty of perjury. Provides for the imposition of penalties, as specified. Provides that no recovery by a lien claimant shall be allowed unless specified conditions are met.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 2497 (Brewer-R) Workers' compensation: appeals board

Revises the law governing (1) liens placed by the State Department of Employment Development upon workers' compensation awards, (2) compromise and release agreements, and (3) disability benefits.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

Unemployment Insurance

SB 152 (Johnston-D) Unemployment insurance: compensation benefit awards

Provides for consideration of a more recent time period for determining whether an applicant for unemployment insurance has an adequate earning history to qualify for benefits. Provides that if the applicant fails to show sufficient earning during the usual base period (the year starting about 18 months prior to the application), the more recent period (12 months prior to application) will be considered.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 164 (Solis-D) Disability benefits: family care and medical leave

Requires the State Department of Employment Development to conduct a cost impact study of extending disability benefits for those taking unpaid family or medical leave.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 165 (Solis-D) Unemployment compensation: domestic violence

Clarifies that employees who are victims of domestic violence are eligible to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits if they left employment with good cause, and exempts an employer's reserve account from higher charges.

Chapter 411, Statutes of 1998

SB 233 (Solis-D) Unemployment compensation benefits: good cause

Allows individuals to qualify for unemployment insurance compensation if they left employment because of frequent requirements to work more than eight hours daily or because of the inability to obtain child care.

(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

SB 495 (Rosenthal-D) Unemployment disability

Increases the maximum disability insurance benefit from $336 to $490 per week, and the taxable wage ceiling from $31,767 to $46,327.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 901 (Lee-D) Employment

Requires employers to list all jobs with the State Job Service, and imposes a surcharge of 15% on employers' Unemployment Insurance tax rate for noncompliance; requires that the State Department of Employment Development (EDD) Contingent Fund be used for employment services; and transfers administration of the Greater Avenues for Independence program from the State Department of Social Services to EDD.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 964 (Knight-R) Disability compensation: voluntary plans

Revises the criteria for the approval and employee opt-out procedures of voluntary disability benefit plans.

(Failed passage in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1383 (Leslie-R) Unemployment Insurance: disclosure of information

Makes it a misdemeanor for the willful, unauthorized, unwarranted disclosure or use of information concerning any unemployment insurance taxpayer by any officer or employee of the State Department of Employment Development.

Chapter 623, Statutes of 1998

SB 1891 (Hurtt-R) Unemployment insurance: penal institutions

Exempts Joint Venture Program employers in penal institutions from paying unemployment insurance tax on participating inmate employees who are ineligible to receive benefits.

(Died in Senate Industrial Relations Committee)

SB 1909 (Rosenthal-D) Unemployment compensation

Increases the maximum unemployment compensation benefit from $230 to $300 per week. Provides that if the amount of wages paid an individual is $4,967 or more in a pertinent three-month period, the individual's weekly benefit amount is 39% of these wages divided by 13, but not to exceed $300.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 2058 (Greene-D) Employer contributions: interest on penalties

Clarifies the authority of the State Department of Employment Development to charge interest on penalties for failure to pay payroll taxes.

(Refused passage on Assembly Third Reading File)

SB 2234* (Senate Revenue And Taxation Committee) Unemployment Insurance and State Disability Insurance

Clarifies what information must be reported on employers' reports of wages under the Unemployment Insurance Code. Allows the State Franchise Tax Board and State Department of Employment Development to continue their collaborative program of processing State Disability Insurance refunds until an improved method for crediting refunds is implemented.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 632 (Cardenas-D) Employment Development Department: programs

Permits the State Department of Employment Development to include small business seminars conducted by private organizations in its efforts to educate taxpayers.

Chapter 165, Statutes of 1998

AB 636 (Floyd-D) Unemployment insurance: wage and employment information

Requires the director of the State Department of Employment Development to furnish wage and employment data to a private entity in order to verify employment history in connection with credit transactions.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 1551 (Figueroa-D) Unemployment compensation

Clarifies that employees who lose their jobs because of a major disaster are unemployed for "good cause," for purposes of qualifying for unemployment insurance benefits, gives employers more time than exists under current law to respond to a benefit claim in the event of a major natural disaster, and exempts an employer's reserve account from higher charges due to the disaster.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 1680 (Alquist-D) Unemployment insurance

Requires the State Department of Umployment Development to provide unemployment insurance claimants with an appeal form.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 1704 (Miller-R) Unemployment insurance: holiday pay

Deems holiday pay during a definite period of layoff to be wages, which would disqualify a person for unemployment insurance compensation.

(Failed passage in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 1970 (Brewer-R) Disability insurance

Authorizes limitation of disability benefits to not less than 60% of the employee's earnings.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 2017 (Takasugi-R) Unemployment insurance

Makes primarily clarifying and technical changes to existing law with respect to making determinations of eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits, electronic transmission of tax returns, election to file annual returns by certain domestic employers, and the disclosure of confidential information to other public agencies.

Chapter 217, Statutes of 1998

AB 2123 (Cunneen-R) Taxation: employees

Deems an individual not to be an employee if an employer has not treated the individual as an employee and the tax returns filed by the employer consistently treat the individual other than as an employee.

(Died in Assembly Insurance Committee)

AB 2169 (Kuehl-D) Child support

Makes various technical corrections to statutes relating to the enforcement of child support, as required by federal law, including (1) adding labor union hiring halls to the definition of an employer for purposes of the new hire registry; (2) adding the whereabouts of the child to the information not to be released when there is domestic violence; and (3) providing for a notice of health insurance assignment by the district attorney, when the court has ordered a parent to provide health insurance coverage, in lieu of a health insurance coverage assignment order.

Chapter 858, Statutes of 1998

AB 2558 (Mazzoni-D) State disability insurance: midwives

Provides licensed midwives with the same authority as similarly qualified obstetrics assistants to certify expectant mothers for state disability benefits.

Chapter 128, Statutes of 1988

AB 2779* (Aroner-D) Unemployment Insurance and State Disability Insurance

Requires the State Department of Employment Development (EDD) to maintain a certain level of services in the Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance programs and requires the State Auditor to review the implementation of telephone claim filing in these programs. Suspends the planned consolidation of EDD's Glendale Disability Insurance office until a suitable nontemporary local for a centralized claims management office has been selected.

Chapter 329, Statutes of 1998

Financial Institutions

SB 611 (Brulte-R) Financial institutions

Increases the authority of the Commissioner of the State Department of Financial Institutions to sanction noncompliant financial institutions, and reduces the workload and responsibilities of the department with respect to collateral programs and the approval of corporate names.

(Died in Senate Finance, Investment, and International Trade Committee)

SB 1419 (Kopp-I) Financing: insurance

Redefines "principal balance" and "finance charge" and limits the amount of "producer's fee" in the premium finance agency law.

(Refused passage on Assembly Floor)

SB 1439 (Brulte-R) Financial institutions: credit unions

Represents the State Department of Financial Institutions' efforts to modernize and streamline current statutes and eliminate unnecessary restrictions and requirements of state-chartered credit unions.

Chapter 539, Statutes of 1998

SB 1512 (Maddy-R) Finance lenders: delinquency fees

Establishes delinquency fees (late payments) for finance lenders. Provides that a licensee (under the California License Lender's Law) may contract for and receive a delinquency fee, for loans below $5,000, as specified.

Chapter 104, Statutes of 1998

SB 1622 (Peace-D) Biometric identifiers: financial institutions

Prohibits bank, credit union, check casher, or savings association requesting or requiring a customer to provide a biometric identifier (fingerprint, voice print, retinal scan, or other biologically based characteristic that may be used to identify an individual) for certain financial purposes.

(Failed passage in Assembly Banking and Finance Committee)

SB 1624 (Lewis-R) Industrial loan companies

Enacts numerous changes to the Industrial Loan Company Law, including renaming the law as the Industrial Banking Law and making relevant changes.

Chapter 827, Statutes of 1998

SB 1669 (Johnson-R) Financial institutions

Makes numerous changes to the Banking Law and the Industrial Loan Law, continuing the State Department of Financial Institutions' efforts to streamline and modernize current statutes regulating state chartered banks, industrial loan companies, and trust companies.

(Died in Senate Finance, Investment and International Trade Committee)

SB 1845 (Calderon-D) Transmission of money abroad: disclosures

Requires the receipt presented to a customer when engaging in the business of receiving money for the purpose of transmitting abroad, to state the official rate of exchange, as defined.

(Died in Senate Finance, Investment and International Trade)

SB 2060 (Kopp-I) Investment securities

Makes several changes to the law concerning the regulation of broker-dealers and investment advisors subject to the jurisdiction of the State Department of Corporations. Additionally, the bill enacts new sections imposing criminal liability on certain persons, based on controlling, aiding and abetting, subject to the Corporate Securities Law of 1968.

Chapter 391, Statutes of 1998

SB 2115 (O'Connell-D) Escheat

Lengthens the "escheat" period for bank accounts and other specified accounts from three years to five years, and provides that activity in one account at a financial institution will preclude the escheat of funds in another idle account of the same owner at the same institution.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SJR 43 (Polanco-D) Credit unions

Resolves to support the enactment of legislation to protect the rights of California residents to join credit unions, including those that are federally chartered.

Resoluation Chapter 81, Statutes of 1998

SR 39 (Peace-D) Merger of Bank of America & Nations Bank

Resolves that the California State Senate expresses its serious concern over the proposed merger of Bank of America and Nations Bank and move by the Bank of America; resolves that the California Senate shall provide for the commencement of a study of the potential impact of the removal of the corporate headquarters of Bank of America from San Francisco and of whether the people of San Francisco and the State of California would be well advised to withdraw funds currently deposited in the Bank of America in order to ensure that these funds best serve the people of San Francisco and the State of California.

(Died in Senate Rules)

AB 46 (Sweeney-D) Financial transactions: service charges and surcharges

Makes legislative findings concerning escalating bank fees including automated teller machine (ATM) fees and their impact upon consumers and the effect of prepayment penalties upon consumers' ability to manage credit card debt; prohibits penalties for prepayment of credit card debt; and prohibits surcharges for use of certain ATMs.

(Died in Assembly Banking and Finance Committee)

AB 798 (Floyd-D) Finance: automobile title lenders

Defines loans secured by an automobile title. Places in the California Finance Lenders Law a new chapter entitled "Automobile Title Loan," and defines "Automobile Title Loans," "Automobile," and "Title."

(Died in Assembly Banking and Finance Committee)

AB 1813 (Ackerman-R) Trusts: trustees and other fiduciaries

Limits, as it relates to corporations or commercial banks which are authorized to engage in the trust business, trustees and other fiduciaries and trusts, the statutory specificity relating to trusts, and decreases the responsibilities of trustees.

(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1860 (McClintock-R) Financial institutions: escrow agents

Modifies specified notification requirements related to the transfer of ownership interests in escrow companies.

Chapter 174, Statutes of 1998

AB 2039 (Baugh-R) Finance lenders law

Exempts nonprofit church extension funds from licensing requirements, under the California Financial Lenders Law, for loans made by parent churches to affiliates.

Chapter 469, Statutes of 1998

AB 2070 (Kaloogian-R) Financial institutions: trust business

Allows a national bank which does not maintain an office in California to conduct a trust business in this state and allows a foreign (other state) bank to market its trust services in California. This bill gives the Commissioner of the State Department of Financial Institutions enforcement authority over any foreign bank conducting trust business in California, and subjects foreign banks to state banking fees. Authorizes a California state commercial bank to establish an office in another state exclusively for transacting trust business. Defines numerous terms and provides for other technical changes.

(Died in Senate Appropriations)

AB 2129 (Takasugi-R) Finance lenders: exemptions

Exempts counties, cities, cities and counties, redevelopment agencies, housing authorities, duly authorized governmental agencies or districts, and governmental joint powers authorities from the application of the California Finance Lenders Law, as specified.

(Died in Assembly Business and Finance)

AB 2428 (Knox-D) Finance lenders

Exempts public corporations and public entities from the California Finance Lenders Law when making any loan so long as the entity complies with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations. The bill deletes the sunset clauses of the provisions that authorize the secondary selling of mortgage-backed loans or commercial loans to institutional investors.

Chapter 428, Statutes of 1998

AB 2452 (Leach-R) Financial privacy

Specifies the bank or other financial institution account statements that will satisfy the requirements of the required disclosures to police agencies when they are investigating alleged fraudulent use of checks, drafts or other instruments drawn upon a bank or other financial institution. Requires the providing of information in response to child support subpoena.

Chapter 771, Statutes of 1998

AB 2590 (Brown-D) Securities

Increases, to $10,000 for each violation, the amount of the civil penalty levied for violations of the Corporation Securities Law of 1968.

(Died in Assembly Business and Finance)

AB 2694 (Pacheco-R) Residential mortgage lending

Extends the State Department of Corporations enforcement authority of residential mortgage lenders and servicers (licensees).

Chapter 178, Statutes of 1998

AB 2807 (Assembly Banking And Finance Committee) Savings banks

Creates the state savings bank charter providing for the formation, financing, organization, powers, duties and regulation of state savings banks and state savings bank holding companies.

(Died in Assembly Business and Finance)

ACR 27 (Papan-D) Property taxation: automated teller machines

Requests the State Board of Equalization to rescind its action classifying automated teller machines (ATMs) as personal property for purposes of property taxation under Rule 122.5 of Title 18 of the California Code of Regulations.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

Miscellaneous

SB 14 (Polanco-D) Leaf blowers

Establishes limitations on the authority of local governments to regulate the use of leaf blowers.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee, after being referred to the committee by Senate Rule 29.10.

Similar legislation was SB 1651 (Polanco-D), which died in the Senate Appropriations Committee; and AB 392 (Cedillo-D), which died in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

SB 117 (Kelley-R) Collateral recovery

Simplifies certain recordkeeping and notice requirements relating to repossession of collateral by allowing the specified records and notices to be in alternative formats. Additionally, this bill increases a cap on amounts certain lenders may charge a consumer for costs associated with a repossession.

Chapter 582, Statutes of 1998

SB 184 (Polanco-D) Barbering and cosmetology: state board

Establishes an industry advisory committee to assist with the regulation of barbers and cosmetologists.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 185 (Mountjoy-R) Contractors' State License Law: contracts

Raises the minimum requirement for certain elements of the home improvement contract from $500 to $1,500, and the minimum requirement for a "home solicitation contract" for contractors from $100 to $1,500.

(Died in Senate Business and Professions Committee)

SB 276* (McPherson-R) Tax credits: eating places

Provides a 6% credit for purchasing equipment used in the processing of food products at eating establishments, which includes restaurants, catering operations, concession stands, and fast food restaurants.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

SB 689 (Johnson-R) Zoning: business regulation

Prohibits a city or county from adopting an ordinance or regulation on or after January 1, 1998, that terminates the legal use or nonconforming use of an existing restaurant by limiting its operating hours, as specified.

(Died in Senate Housing and Land Use Committee)

SB 704 (Polanco-D) Contracting

Makes technical corrections to the prompt pay contractor statutes, requires a public hearing on enhancing consumers' financial protection, and reinstates the three-year statute of limitations for violations of the home improvement contract laws.

(Died in Senate Judiciary; sent to committee pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10)

SB 821 (Monteith-R) General building contractor: definition

Authorizes a "B" general contractor to perform work in any specialty contractor classifications with the exception of eight classifications deemed to pose health and safety risks.

(Died in Senate Business and Professions Committee)

SB 848 (Maddy-R) Public benefit corporations

Makes various changes in the law concerning transactions involving public benefit corporations and the Attorney General's decisional discretion involving these transactions. The purpose of the bill is to provide flexibility necessary for nonprofit hospitals to dispose of their assets to provide a variety of community benefits, as specified.

(Died in Assembly Health Committee)

SB 1056 (Solis-D) Land use: sexually oriented businesses

Specifies that a sexually oriented business includes one in which live nude entertainment is presented, and specifies that among those harmful secondary effects that sexually oriented businesses may have on the community are an increase in criminal activities, such as prostitution and drug dealing.

(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 1086* (Schiff-D) Self-service storage facilities: containers

Redefines the term "self-service storage facility," and shifts the regulatory burden of such entities away from the California Public Utilities Commission, under which "household goods carriers" are regulated.

Chapter 45, Statutes of 1998

SB 1134 (Vasconcellos-D) Corporate Securities Law of 1968

Changes the nature of the Corporate Securities Law of 1968 to substantially eliminate the "fair, just and equitable" or "merit" review standard used by the Commissioner of the State Department of Corporations to determine whether a public offering of securities may be made in this state and, in its place, requires, among other things, that all material aspects of an offering be disclosed to prospective buyers.

(Died in Senate Finance, Investment and International Trade Committee)

SB 1200 (Thompson-D) Corporations: securities

Makes technical changes in the Corporate Securities Law of 1968 regarding "rollup" transactions, and enacts provisions related to investment advisers, as defined. Makes technical changes to the Corporations Code to comply with changes in federal law through the National Securities Market Improvement Act of 1996.

Chapter 48, Statutes of 1998

SB 1205* (McPherson-R) Securities: offerings

Directs the Legislative Analyst to conduct a comprehensive study of this state's system of consumer investor protection and new securities offerings, and to report to the Legislature and Governor on or before December 31, 1998.

(Died in Senate Appropriations Committee)

SB 1289 (Calderon-D) Public accountancy: commissions

Repeals current law prohibiting accountants from accepting commissions and, instead, prohibits a licensed accountant from receiving a referral fee, and also prohibits commissions when the licensee or the licensee's firm performs for a client any of specified services.

Chapter 41, Statutes of 1998

SB 1309 (Mountjoy-R) Unfair competition

Limits a private plaintiffs' ability to bring unfair trade and competition and false advertising claims, by requiring that a plaintiff must have been actually harmed, or threatened with actual harm, in order to have standing to bring suit. Demands closer court scrutiny of all phases of private representative suit litigation (those individuals who sue on behalf of the general public).

(Failed passage in Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 1321 (Hurtt-R) Corporations

Provides that a proposal by the Commissioner of the State Department of Corporations to make, amend or rescind any rule, form or order of the Corporate Securities Law of 1968 would not become effective unless approved by the Legislature.

(Died in Senate Governmental Organization Committee)

SB 1348 (Senate Business And Professions Committee) Yacht brokers license

Provides that an owner of a marine business, selling new or used yachts for at least 3 years, may apply for a yachts' broker license.

Chapter 790, Statutes of 1998

SB 1418 (Rosenthal-D) Legal document assistants

Creates a new category of legal technician -- the legal document assistant. It specifies the types of services which legal document assistants could provide and enacts penalties for legal document assistants who provide unauthorized services. Imposes additional requirements for unlawful detainer assistants. Sunsets in three years.

Chapter 1079, Statutes of 1998

SB 1440 (Knight-R) Alarm companies: exemptions

Exempts licensed private patrol operators and their employees from laws regulating alarm company operators.

Chapter 376, Statutes of 1998

SB 1493 (Rosenthal-D) Corporate mergers

Allows a surviving corporation in a merger to succeed without paying any local agency transfer fee to all licenses, permits, registration, and other privileges granted by any local agency, provided the merger does not result in a change of ownership, and subjects the surviving corporation to the ame duties and obligations in connection with the license, permit, registration, and other privileges acquired from the disappearing corporations.

Chapter 381, Statutes of 1998

SB 1514 (Solis-D) Garment manufacture: registration: penalties

Imposes a $500 civil penalty on garment manufacturers found in violation of the law who do not employ any workers. Eliminates the misdemeanor for failure to register by the above manufacturers.

Chapter 276, Statutes of 1998

SB 1589* (Senate Budget And Fiscal Review Committee) Department of Corporations: notice fliing fees

A Budget trailer bill provides, among other things, for suspension of certain notice filing fees in connection with securities-related action by the Commissioner of the State Department of Corporations until July 1, 2000 and, beginning July 1, 2000, the commissioner may set specified fees below the maximum specified in law.

Chapter 328, Statutes of 1998

SB 1685 (Burton-D) Pawnbrokers: compensation

Sets up a three-month loan period and revises and recasts the schedule for charges and compensation relating to pawnbroker transactions.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1783 (Watson-D) Secondhand goods dealers

Allows the State Department of Justice to establish a computer generated, electronically transmitted system for the purpose of making the required reports by pawnholders and secondhand dealers.

(Died in Senate Rules Committee)

SB 1792 (Mountjoy-R) Contractors: arbitration of disputes

Increases the monetary cap on cases that may be submitted to the State Contractors Licensing Board's voluntary arbitration program from its current maximum of $25,000, to a maximum of $50,000.

Chapter 492, Statutes of 1998

SB 1836 (Johnston-D) Charitable fundraising

Requires specified charitable operations soliciting the donations of vehicles, planes or boats to provide certain information to donors regarding their donation, and under specified conditions, information related to the percentage of a donation which is actually received by the designated charity.

Chapter 348, Statutes of 1998

SB 1959 (Schiff-D) Professions: licensing: military service

Allows applicants for state licensure as barbers, security guards, patrol persons, and smog check technicians to submit comparable military training as a substitute for state licensing education, training, and experience requirements.

Chapter 405, Statutes of 1998

SB 1977 (Karnette-D) Barbering and cosmetology: licensing

Requires the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology to establish a course of study and separate license for hairstylists. Extends the operative date of provisions governing the equipment, floor space, enrollment and course requirements of schools of cosmetology, barbering, and electrology from July 1, 2001 to July 1, 2005.

(Died in Senate Business and Professions Committee)

SB 1984 (Greene-D) Board of Registration for Geologists and Geophysicists

Changes the examination and fee requirements for geologists and geophysicists.

Chapter 992, Statutes of 1998

SB 2033 (Costa-D) Disabled access to public accommodations

Prohibits local agencies from disapproving a "drive-thru facility" or imposing or modifying conditions of approval that makes a drive-thru facility infeasible.

(Died in Senate Housing and Land Use Committee)

SB 2044 (Rainey-R) Private patrol operators

Modifies the temporary registration process for security guards as administered by the State epartment of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Investigative and Security Services.

Chapter 830, Statutes of 1998

SB 2057 (Greene-D) Asbestos

Permits a contractor to remove flooring material containing asbestos without registering as an asbestos abatement contractor with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA).

(Failed passage in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

SB 2063 (Kopp-I) Corporations: business judgment rule

Adopts the business judgment rule which provides that a director is not personally liable to the corporation or its shareholders for a good faith business judgment if the director is disinterested, is informed, and rationally believes that the action is in the best interest of the corporation and its shareholders.

(Failed passage in Senate Judiciary Committee)

SB 2069 (Knight-R) Professional engineers: registration

Authorizes professional engineers to practice in engineering practices outside of their own registered branch or engineering discipline, and exempts persons practicing other professions or occupations from engineering practice restrictions so long as they are working within their own occupation or profession.

(Died in Senate Business and Professions Committee)

SB 2217 (O'Connell-D) Contractors: small operations

Increases from $300 to $500 the value of a construction contract that is not subject to regulation by the State Contractors' State License Board, so long as the nature of the work performed is "casual, minor, or inconsequential."

Chapter 633, Statutes of 1998

AB 61 (Strom-Martin-D) Secretary of State: business registry

Requires the Secretary of State to consolidate business registration processes.

(Died in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency and Economic Development Committee)

AB 205 (Machado-D) Speech-language pathologists

Mandates continuing education requirements for all speech-language licensees and registrants; creates a new license category of "speech-language pathology assistant"; authorizes language and speech development and remediation services in schools to be provided by a speech-language pathologist assistant, and specifies a maximum fee schedule for registration and renewal fees.

Chapter 1058, Statutes of 1998

AB 338 (Sweeney-D) Professional sports franchises

Requires professional sports franchises receiving offers to relocate to notify their current community and then allows time for a counter offer by the current community.

(Failed passage in Assembly Local Government Committee)

AB 469 (Cardoza-D) Limited liability partnerships: architecture

Permits architects, until January 1, 2002, to operate as a limited liability partnership when the partnership meets specified insurance requirements.

Chapter 504, Statutes of 1998

AB 508 (Takasugi-R) Accountancy: volunteer services

Authorizes the State Board of Accountancy to enter into a contract with a nonprofit organization to provide volunteer accounting services, as specified.

Chapter 611, Statutes of 1998

AB 526 (Vincent-D) Professional sports franchises

Requires professional sports franchises receiving an offer to relocate to notify their current community, and allows time for a counter offer by the current community.

(Died in Assembly Local Government Committee)

AB 949 (Ducheny-D) Social workers

Limits the use of the title, "social worker," to individuals who possess a social work degree from an accredited school.

(Died in Conference Committee)

AB 969 (Cardenas-D) Professional engineers

Renames the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors as the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors; changes statutory references to professional engineers; and eliminates protection for the use of the titles of "corrosion engineer," "quality engineer," and "safety engineer."

Chapter 59, Statutes of 1998

AB 1289 (Pringle-R) Amusement rides

Enacts the California Rider Safety Notification Act, which imposes certain duties upon amusement facilities, riders of amusement rides, and the parents or guardians of minor riders.

(Died in Assembly Labor and Employment Committee)

AB 1295 (Caldera-D) Unfair practices

Places a number of restrictions on the ability of private plaintiffs to bring lawsuits alleging unfair competition or false advertising and seeking monetary recovery.

(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1314 (Leach-R) Cremated remains

Increases reporting requirements for cremated remains disposers and imposes a misdemeanor penalty for improper storage of cremated remains.

Chapter 168, Statutes of 1998

AB 1487 (Floyd-D) Business practices: injunctions

Provides specified legal remedies relating to unfair competition, misleading advertising, and misrepresentation of material facts. Changes the Consumer Legal Remedies Act as it relates to senior citizens.

(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1678 (Alquist-D) Contractors: application requirements

Increases the education requirements for licensees of the Contractors State License Board. Requires applicants for licensure as contractors to submit evidence of a high school diploma or its equivalent.

(Died in Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, and Economic Development Committee)

AB 1703 (Leach-R) Legal entities: partnerships & limited liability companies

Amends the laws governing partnerships and limited liability companies to conform with new Internal Revenue Service tax classification regulations.

Chapter 243, Statutes of 1998

AB 1705 (Torlakson-D) Cremated remains

Repeals the current prohibition against scattering cremated human remains on land in California, and reduces the current three-mile offshore scattering limit to 500 years. Imposes additional duties and requirements on cremated remains disposers, and strengthens disclosure and reporting requirements on funeral directors and cremated remains disposers.

Chapter 614, Statutes of 1998

AB 1828 (Leach-R) Partnerships

Revises limited liability company membership requirements and modifies limited liability company dissolution conditions.

(Failed passage in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 1830 (Davis-D) Seller assisted marketing plans

Modifies certain disclosure and registration provisions related to sellers of certain business opportunities, or "seller assisted marketing plans."

Chapter 595, Statutes of 1998

AB 2001 (Kuehl-D) Employment agencies: child care providers

Requires employment agencies that refer child-care providers to provide prospective employers with specified information about the Trustline Registry.

Chapter 287, Statutes of 1998

AB 2055 (Gallegos-D) Land use: sexually oriented businesses

Clarifies local government authority and states the intent of the Legislature with regard to regulation of adult or sexually oriented businesses.

Chapter 552, Statutes of 1998

AB 2065 (Cardenas-D) Cities: license fees

Prevents cities (including a city and county) from levying business license taxes and fees, and from imposing various other regulatory requirements, on writers, musicians, directors and creative artists as specified.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

AB 2088 (Floyd-D) Pawnbrokers

Clarifies certain aspects of pawnbroker transactions that are intended to protect the borrowers of these transactions. Provides that the ten-day redemption period is extended to the next business day for claiming pledged articles, if the pawnshop is closed on the tenth day. Requires a pawnbroker to include a receipt for any fees paid along with any property returned to a pledgor.

Chapter 804, Statutes of 1998

AB 2228 (Davis-D) Petroleum: competition

Clarifies that state law does not prohibit local jurisdictions from regulating the sale of gasoline. States that nothing in state law invalidates or prohibits a local ordinance regulating competition in the refining, wholesale or retail distribution, pricing, manufacturing, or transporting of motor vehicle fuels or oils.

(Died in Assembly Rules Committee)

AB 2245 (Baldwin-R) Limited liability companies

Permits limited liability companies to provide professional services.

(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 2251 (Honda-D) Broker-dealer agents: registration

Requires the Commissioner of the State Department of Corporations to review the disciplinary histories of securities agents, upon filing of certain notices called the Investor Protection Act.

Chapter 769, Statutes of 1998

AB 2255 (Papan-D) Retail fleet auctioneers

Defines a retail vehicle fleet auctioneer, makes an auctioneer subject to specified vehicle dealer requirements, and establishes a regulatory scheme for such auctioneers relative to the consignment and auction sale of motor vehicles to the public. Becomes operative on July 1, 1999.

(Died in Senate Transportation Committee)

AB 2280 (Papan-D) Contractors: works of improvement

Requires an owner of property, other than a single-family residence, who contracts for any private work of improvement in an amount exceeding $1 million dollars to provide security for the project.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2292 (Ackerman-R) Legal entities: organization and operation

1. Revises the definition of "listed corporation" for purposes of applying or exempting corporations traded over NASDAQ from California laws, and enacts rules for the phase-out of staggered boards of directors and restoration of cumulative voting when a listed corporation ceases to meet the requirements to be a listed corporation.
2. Clarifies the timing of applying California's corporate governance laws to foreign corporations when the foreign company meets certain tests brining it within California's jurisdiction.
3. Codifies legislative intent language to prevent the imposition of documentary transfer taxes when existing business entities, such as partnerships and corporations, converted into and transferred real property to, limited liability companies.

Chapter 514, Statutes of 1998

AB 2312 (Morrissey-R) Security guards: background checks

Requires specified security guards to submit two additional fingerprint cards as part of the licensing process.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2360 (Olberg-R) Business licenses: exemption: veterans' organizations

Prohibits cities and counties from requiring federally chartered veterans' organizations to have a regulatory license or to pay a regulatory license fee to solicit donations for the support of veterans.

Chapter 138, Statutes of 1998

AB 2377 (Frusetta-R) Corporations: board of directors

Decreases the required minimum number of holders of equity securities necessary to elect a staggered board of directors.

Chapter 985, Statutes of 1998

AB 2534 (Margett-R) Contractors: retention proceeds

Limits the percentage of the retention proceeds that may be withheld by a contractor from a subcontractor to the same percentage that may be withheld by the builder from the contractor at the start of the building contract.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2627 (Brown-D) Works of improvement

Allows a contractor who has not been paid to stop further work after ten days notice to the owner without incurring any liability.

Chapter 986, Statutes of 1998

AB 2633 (Murray-D) Optical discs: piracy prevention

Requires manufacturers, as defined, to mark each optical disc permanently with a specified identification mark, and specifies penalties in connection with unlawful activities related to manufacture, distribution or sale of unauthorized optical disks.

Chapter 712, Statutes of 1988

AB 2640 (Bowen-D) Internet service providers

Creates additional civil remedies recoverable by Internet service providers for certain harmful actions without reference to criminal prosecutions, as defined. Provides that the remedy for these unauthorized acts is either the actual commercial value of the loss, or if the loss is difficult to calculate, statutory damages as specified. Provides for a specific additional remedy where the names or E-mail accounts of an Internet service provider are seized and used without authorization.

(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 2704 (Alquist-D) Service contracts

Specifically subjects the "obligor" on service contracts to regulation by the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair and the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, and revises the definition of "service contract" and "home appliance."

Chapter 196, Statutes of 1998

AB 2733 (Wildman-D) Bail fugitive recovery persons

Establishes the Bail Fugitive Recovery Person Act which requires that all bail fugitive recovery persons (i.e., bounty hunters) meet specified requirements and requires every bail fugitive recovery person to notify local law enforcement officials as to his or her intention to make an arrest.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2770 (Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, And Economic Development Committee) Seller assisted marketing plans

Modifies certain disclosure and registration provisions related to sellers of certain business opportunities, or "seller assisted marketing plans."

(Died in Assembly Public Safety Committee)

AB 2771 (Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, And Economic Development Committee) Accountancy: education: examination: claims against state

Modifies provisions relating to the State Board of Accountancy and the State Board of Control (SBC). Board of Accountancy provisions are clarifying in nature. SBC provisions attempt to make consistent board authority to delegate specified settlement powers.

Chapter 872, Statutes of 1998

AB 2802 (Assembly Consumer Protection, Governmental Efficiency, And Economic Development Committee) Professions and vocations

Enacts numerous minor, ostensibly non-controversial changes to the laws administered by the State Department of Consumer Affairs boards and committees.

Chapter 970, Statutes of 1998

ACR 128 (Machado-D) California Architecture Week

Declares April 20 through April 26 as California Architecture Week.

Resolution Chapter 40, Statutes of 1998

HR 58 (Sweeney-D) Gasoline pricing: study

Requests that the California Attorney General, in cooperation with the United States Attorney General, United States Secretary of Energy, and the Federal Trade Commission, investigate marketing practices in the oil industry and in the retail gasoline marketplace to determine whether anti-competitive, red-lining, or predatory elements exist.

Read and adopted