Signed

AB 216 (Gonzalez Fletcher) Ballot Postage: Oppose – Signed. Requires vote by mail ballots to include a return envelope with prepaid postage. CSAC opposed this measure based on the cost of implementation.

AB 1976 (Limon) Lactation Accommodation: Support – Signed. Requires employers to provide a location other than a “bathroom” (under current law it’s a “toilet stall”) for their employees to express breastmilk. CSAC expressed initial concerns with the bill, but took a support position after the author agreed to include a hardship exemption.

AB 2415 (Calderon) CalPERS Appointments and Compensation: Support – Signed. Allows the CalPERS Board to set the compensation for the positions of chief operating officer and chief health director.  CSAC supported this measure on the grounds that it will help CalPERS recruit, hire, and retain the highest quality staff, which is particularly important on the executive level.

AB 2425 (Berman) Transmission of Property Records: Support – Signed. Authorizes county assessors to require taxpayers to transmit requested information by mail or in an electronic format, if available. CSAC supported this measure to ensure tax information is collected and verified in the most efficient and cost effective manner, all the while protecting the safety of county employees and ensuring information is shared expeditiously.

AB 2540 (Mullin) Vote Centers: Support – Signed. Authorizes governing bodies with jurisdiction over public buildings to allow those buildings to be used as vote centers beginning up to ten days prior to an election day. CSAC supported this measure because it will help facilitate successful implementation of the California Voter’s Choice Act.

SB 1085 (Skinner) Employee Lost Time: Oppose – Signed. Requires public employers to provide union employees with “reasonable” leaves of absence to serve a union stewards or officers. While on the leave of absence, employees are entitled to their regular compensation, the same benefits (including retirement accrual), and job reinstatement without loss of seniority, rank, or classification. CSAC opposed the measure on the grounds that it circumvents the collective bargaining process and could place a strain on county workforce needs.

SB 1086 (Atkins) Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits: Oppose Unless Amended – Signed. Deletes the sunset date on a law that provides an extended statute of limitations for workers’ compensation death benefits payable to the survivors of public safety officers who die as a result of work-related cancer or other specified diseases. CSAC had requested the sunset not be repealed but rather be extended by 5 years in light of the very low number of claims being submitted and because the forthcoming report from the Department of Industrial Relations on this new benefit has not yet been published.

SB 1300 (Jackson) Personal Liability for Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) Violations: Oppose – Signed. Imposes personal liability on an employee of an entity who is alleged to have engaged in any harassment prohibited under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), including sexual harassment. Additionally prohibits employers from requiring employees to sign a release of claims under FEHA in exchange for a raise or as a condition of employment. While the final version is much less onerous and no longer included bystander training requirements, CSAC remained opposed.

SB 1343 (Mitchell) Sexual Harassment Training: Support – Signed. Establishes sexual harassment training requirements for non-supervisory positions to ensure safe workplaces and provide greater liability protection for employers. CSAC staff successfully negotiated extensive amendments to reduce the burden on local agencies to provide all employees with training opportunities and ensure protection against liability. Advocacy on this measure also helped block far more extensive and costly training bills.

SB 1413 (Nielsen) Pension Prefunding: Support – Signed. Provides CalPERS with the authority to establish a Pension Prefunding Trust Program. CSAC supported this measure as another alternative for local agencies to prefund their future annual pension contributions and/or pay down their unfunded liability.

SB 1498 (Senate Governance and Finance Committee) Local Government Omnibus Legislation: Support – Signed. Addresses technical and non-controversial changes to current law that offer clarify and greater accuracy in statutes impacting counties and other local government agencies.

Vetoed

AB 553 (Daly) Workers’ Compensation Return to Work (RTW) Fund: Oppose – Vetoed. Would have required the Department of Industrial Relations to distribute $120 million annually to injured workers from the Return to Work Program and shift administration of the program from the state to employers. CSAC opposed this measure because it threatened to place a tremendous administrative burden on employers.

AB 1597 (Nazarian) CalPERS Divestment: Oppose – Vetoed. Would have prohibited CalPERS and CalSTRS from investing in the government of Turkey, if the U.S. government sanctions Turkey for failing to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. CSAC opposed this measure due to the negative impact it could potentially have on the funded status of CalPERS and its ability to pay full benefits into the future.

AB 1870 (Reyes) Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) Complaints: Oppose – Vetoed. Would have increased the filing period with the DFEH for complaints of unlawful employment practices from one year to three year. CSAC opposed this measure on the grounds that it would limit an employer’s ability to promptly take action and promote a harassment-free workplace.

AB 2258 (Caballero) Local Agency Formation (LAFCo) Grant Program: Support – Vetoed. Would have authorized a grant program to finance certain LAFCo activities. CSAC supported this measure on the grounds that it would allow LAFCos to conduct detailed studies and implement greater efficiencies in delivering local services.

AB 3081 (Gonzalez Fletcher) Retaliation Claims: Oppose – Vetoed. Would have provided, amongst other things, a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation for the 30 days after an employer learns that an employee has been the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment or staling, if an employer takes an adverse employment action against an employee. CSAC opposed this measure on the grounds that it would increase liability exposure for false workplace retaliation claims.

AB 2732 (Gonzalez Fletcher) Workers’ Bill of Rights: Oppose – Vetoed. Would have required all employers to provide all employees with a copy of the “Workers’ Bill of Rights,” have them sign it, give them a copy of the signed document, and keep the original for three years, as well as post a notice. CSAC opposed this measure based on the costs of compliance and the potential costs of liability for improper record keeping.

SB 937 (Wiener) Lactation Accommodation: Oppose – Vetoed. Would have imposed very onerous requirements on employers to provide lactation accommodation for employees who need to express milk while at work. Under this bill, lactation rooms would be required to contain a surface to place a breast pump and personal items as well as a place to sit, have access to electricity, running water and a refrigerator, not be a bathroom and be in proximity to the employee’s work area, shielded from view and free from intrusion.

Signing and veto request letters to the Governor can be found on the CSAC legislative tracking website.