Bill Text: CA AB3196 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Small business regulation: COVID-19 pandemic: employment: work hours: compensation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-12 - Re-referred to Com. on H. & C.D. [AB3196 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB3196-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  May 11, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 3196

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Introduced by Assembly Member Kiley

February 21, 2020

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An act to amend Section 5849.4 of, and to add Chapter 5.3 (commencing with Section 13070) to Part 3 of Division 9 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to homelessness. add Article 10 (commencing with Section 11365) to Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 510 of, and to add Section 511.5 to, the Labor Code, relating to business.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 3196, as amended, Kiley. Homelessness Onset Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Act. Small business regulation: COVID-19 pandemic: employment: work hours: compensation.

Existing employment law, with certain exceptions, establishes 8 hours as a day’s work and a 40-hour workweek, and requires payment of prescribed overtime compensation for additional hours worked. Existing law authorizes the adoption by ²/₃ of employees in a work unit of alternative workweek schedules providing for workdays no longer than 10 hours within a 40-hour workweek.

This bill would permit an individual nonexempt employee to work an employee-selected flexible work schedule, without any obligation on the part of the employer to pay an overtime rate of compensation, if the employee requests this schedule and the employer approves the request. The bill would not apply to employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement or public employees.

Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs, among other things, the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal specific administrative regulations to assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals.

This bill would require the head of each state agency to conduct a review of the regulations the state agency has adopted to identify which regulations impose the greatest costs and barriers to small businesses in this state by April 1, 2021. The bill would authorize the head of the state agency, based on the findings of a review pursuant to the bill, to temporarily suspend any identified regulation, to the extent consistent with statute, until small businesses recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would require a state agency to notify the office of suspended regulations and to post suspended regulations on the agency’s internet website.

By executive order, the Governor required the Department of Finance to establish the California Access to Housing and Services Fund within the State Department of Social Services to provide much needed dollars for additional affordable housing units, providing rental and operating subsidies, and stabilizing board and care homes.

Existing law, the No Place Like Home Program (NPLH), as ratified and amended by Proposition 2, which was approved by the voters at the November 6, 2018, statewide general election, provides funding to provide permanent supportive housing for the target population, which is defined to include individuals who have a serious mental disorder and who are homeless, chronically homeless, or at risk of chronic homelessness. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated No Place Like Home Fund for purposes of the NPLH, and authorizes the Legislature to amend Proposition 2 by a 23 vote, so long as the amendment is consistent with and furthers the intent of the act.

This bill would create the Homelessness Onset Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Account in the California Access to Housing and Services Fund, and would require, commencing with the 2020–21 fiscal year, 25% of the funds deposited each fiscal year in the California Access to Housing and Services Fund and the No Place Like Home Fund, and 25% of any General Fund moneys appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute to address homelessness in each fiscal year, to be transferred to the HOPE Account. The bill would, commencing with the 2021–22 fiscal year, require 50% of the funds in the HOPE Account to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to eligible state programs geared toward preventing homelessness and assisting those individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless and the other 50% of the funds to counties for homelessness prevention projects through the annual budget process, as specified. The bill would authorize up to 5% of the funds in the HOPE Account, before the allocation of funds to state programs and counties, to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the State Department of Social Services for administrative costs. Because the bill would expand the purposes for which funding from the No Place Like Home Fund may be used, the bill would amend Proposition 2.

Digest Key

Vote: TWO_THIRDSMAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Small Business Regulatory Relief Act.

SEC. 2.

 Article 10 (commencing with Section 11365) is added to Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

Article  10. COVID-19 Pandemic Regulatory Review and Suspension

11365.

 (a) Notwithstanding any law, including, but not limited to, any provision of this chapter, the head of each state agency shall conduct a review of the regulations the state agency has adopted to identify which regulations impose the greatest costs and barriers to small businesses in this state. The state agency shall complete its review by April 1, 2021.

(b) Based on the findings of a review pursuant to subdivision (a), the head of each state agency may temporarily suspend any identified regulation, to the extent consistent with statute, until small businesses recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(c) A state agency shall notify the office of regulations that are suspended pursuant to this article.

(d) A state agency shall post its regulations that are suspended pursuant to this article on its internet website.

SEC. 3.

 Section 510 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

510.

 (a) Eight hours of labor constitutes a day’s work. Any work in excess of eight hours in one workday and any work in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek and the first eight hours worked on the seventh day of work in any one workweek shall be compensated at the rate of no less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for an employee. Any work in excess of 12 hours in one day shall be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the regular rate of pay for an employee. In addition, any work in excess of eight hours on any seventh day of a workweek shall be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the regular rate of pay of an employee. Nothing in this section requires an employer to combine more than one rate of overtime compensation in order to calculate the amount to be paid to an employee for any hour of overtime work. The requirements of this section do not apply to the payment of overtime compensation to an employee working pursuant to any of the following:

(1) An alternative workweek schedule adopted pursuant to Section 511.

(2) An employee-selected flexible work schedule adopted pursuant to Section 511.5.

(2)

(3) An alternative workweek schedule adopted pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement pursuant to Section 514.

(3)

(4) An alternative workweek schedule to which this chapter is inapplicable pursuant to Section 554.

(b) Time spent commuting to and from the first place at which an employee’s presence is required by the employer shall not be considered to be a part of a day’s work, when the employee commutes in a vehicle that is owned, leased, or subsidized by the employer and is used for the purpose of ridesharing, as defined in Section 522 of the Vehicle Code.

(c) This section does not affect, change, or limit an employer’s liability under the workers’ compensation law.

SEC. 4.

 Section 511.5 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

511.5.

 (a) Notwithstanding Section 510 or any other law or order of the Industrial Welfare Commission, and to the extent consistent with federal law, an individual nonexempt employee may work an employee-selected flexible work schedule, without any obligation on the part of the employer to pay an overtime rate of compensation, if the employee requests this schedule and the employer approves the request.

(b) The employer may inform its employees that it is willing to consider employee requests to work an employee-elected flexible work schedule, but shall not induce a request by promising an employment benefit or threatening an employment detriment.

(c) An employee or employer may discontinue an employee-selected flexible work schedule at any time by giving written notice to the other party. The notice shall be effective the first day of the next pay period or the fifth day after notice is given if there are fewer than five days before the start of the next pay period, unless otherwise agreed to by the employer and employee.

(d) This section does not apply to any employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement or employed by the state, a city, county, city and county, district, municipality, or other public, quasi-public, or municipal corporation, or any political subdivision of this state.

(e) This section shall prevail over any inconsistent provisions in any wage order of the Industrial Welfare Commission.

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)The California state budget has spent $3.85 billion in the past two fiscal years to address homelessness and is proposing another $1.4 billion in new budget programs for the 2020–21 fiscal year, yet the statewide homeless population continues to grow.

(b)Studies have shown that most existing homelessness interventions aren’t statistically effective at actually effecting change in housing status in the chronically homeless over the term of 12 to 18 months, inclusive.

(c)It is critical that as few individuals as possible reach the chronically homeless state.

(d)Several European countries have shifted to a prevention-based paradigm of homelessness assistance and have seen dramatic improvements in their homelessness numbers, such as a 50-percent decrease in homeless families in England between 2003 and 2006.

(e)There is precedent in other state programs to set aside funding for prevention. The Mental Health Services Act, which funds mental health services, requires a set aside of 20 percent of all of its funding for prevention and early intervention services.

(f)In order for chronic street homelessness to not continue to be a generational issue, we must start addressing the roots of the problem now.

(g)Without addressing the ever-increasing influx of new homeless individuals, no amount of connecting the existing chronically street homeless to services, cleaning up camps, creating needle exchange programs, and similar programs, will ever solve the problem.

(h)Unlike some health care crises, such as obesity or mental health, in which prevention is awkward to define, unclear how to implement, the science is not in agreement as to what solutions look like, or if prevention is even possible, cities and counties around the world have implemented prevention-oriented policies and have been successful at reducing or eliminating chronic street homelessness if the resources are focused in that way.

SEC. 2.

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Homelessness Onset Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Act.

SEC. 3.Section 5849.4 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

5849.4.

(a)The No Place Like Home Fund is hereby created within the State Treasury and, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, continuously appropriated to the department, the authority, and the Treasurer for the purposes of this part. Accounts and subaccounts may be created within the fund as needed. Up to 5 percent of the amount deposited in the fund may be used for administrative expenses in implementing this part.

(b)There shall be paid into the fund the following:

(1)Any moneys from the receipt of loan proceeds by the department derived from the issuance of bonds by the authority under subdivision (b) of Section 15463 of the Government Code.

(2)Any appropriation or transfer to the fund from the General Fund or other funds.

(3)Any other federal or state grant, or from any private donation or grant, for the purposes of this part.

(4)Any interest payment, loan repayments, or other return of funds.

(c)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), 25 percent of the funds deposited into the No Place Like Home Fund in each fiscal year shall be transferred to the Homelessness Onset Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Account, created pursuant to Section 13070.

SEC. 4.Chapter 5.3 (commencing with Section 13070) is added to Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

5.3.Homelessness Onset Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Account

13070.

(a)The Homelessness Onset Prevention and Empowerment (HOPE) Account is hereby created in the California Access to Housing and Services Fund for purposes of this chapter.

(b)Commencing with the 2020–21 fiscal year, notwithstanding any other law, the following amounts shall be paid into the HOPE Account:

(1)Twenty-five percent of all funds deposited into both of the following funds in each fiscal year shall be transferred to the HOPE Account:

(A)California Access to Housing and Services Fund.

(B)No Place Like Home Fund, established pursuant to Section 5849.4. The State Department of Social Services shall ensure that funding from the No Place Like Home Fund is only used for homelessness prevention services for individuals who have a serious mental disorder.

(2)Twenty-five percent of any General Fund moneys appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute to address homelessness in each fiscal year.

(c)Commencing with the 2021–22 fiscal year, the funds in the HOPE account shall be allocated in each fiscal year, upon appropriation by the Legislature as part of the annual budget process, as follows:

(1)(A)Fifty percent shall be allocated to state programs specifically geared toward preventing homelessness and assisting those individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless.

(B) The State Department of Social Services, in consultation with homelessness prevention stakeholders, shall develop the criteria to determine which state programs will be eligible for funding pursuant to this paragraph, and the department shall establish a list of eligible state programs that the department shall update, as needed. The department shall include as a criteria, the requirement that a state program demonstrate a method for tracking efficacy of outcomes in preventing homelessness for at least 12 months after the provision of intervention services.

(C)Funding may be provided pursuant to this paragraph to any of the following state programs if the program meets the eligibility criteria developed pursuant to subparagraph (B):

(i)Homeless Emergency Aid Program (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 50210) of Part 1 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code).

(ii)No Place Like Home (Part 3.9 (commencing with Section 5849.1) of Division 5).

(iii)Whole Person Care pilot programs, as defined in Section 14184.10.

(iv)CalWORKs Homeless Assistance (Section 11450 and Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 11330) of Chapter 2).

(v)Veteran Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program (Article 5y (commencing with Section 998.540) of Chapter 6 of Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code).

(vi)Community-Based Transitional Housing Program (Chapter 6.45 (commencing with Section 30035) of Division 3 of Title 3 of the Government Code).

(vii)Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees program (ISMIP) (Article 5 (commencing with Section 2985) of Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 of the Penal Code).

(viii)Rapid rehousing programs under the University of California and the California State University.

(D)State programs may be eligible for additional funding if there is a showing of positive outcomes toward reducing individuals’ risk of future homelessness and a high number of people assisted per state dollar.

(2)Fifty percent shall be allocated to counties for homelessness prevention projects. ___ million dollars ($___) from the HOPE Account shall be distributed to counties as follows:

(A)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count under 250 persons, two million dollars ($2,000,000).

(B)All other counties shall receive a percentage of a remainder of the total funds remaining after allocation to the counties described in subparagraph (A).

(i)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count of over 20,000 persons, 24 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(ii)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count between 4,000 and 19,999 persons, 19.5 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(iii)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count between 2,500 and 3,999 persons, 16 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(iv)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count between 1,800 and 2,499 persons, 13 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(v)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count between 1,500 and 1,799 persons, 12 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(vi)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count between 1,000 and 1,499 persons, 7.5 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(vii)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count between 750 and 999 persons, 5 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(viii)To counties with a homeless point-in-time count between 250 and 749 persons, 3 percent of funds or ___ million dollars ($___).

(d)Up to five percent of the funds in the HOPE Account, before the allocation of funds pursuant to subdivision (c), may be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the State Department of Social Services for administrative costs.