California Alarm Association Board of Directors Meeting – Governmental Affairs Committee Report
The Governmental Affairs Committee has been busy during 2023 monitoring bills that have been introduced in both the State Assembly and Senate. Life has returned to more of a normal operation withing the halls of the Capitol, with offices being open for visits with the Members and their Staffs.
There were a large number of bills dropped in both houses but of these, only about a quarter made tit through the systems. The others either died in committee or will be a two-year bill. In addition to those that are now two-year bills, there will still be new bills introduced in both Houses starting at the beginning in January. This will make 2024 an extremely busy year.
There is still a supermajority of democrats in both the Assembly and Senate. 2024 will also be an election year. There will most likely be some bills introduced which will be directed to one of their core bases, organized labor. We also have a Governor who has his eyes on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Do not expect to see many pro-business bills survive in 2024.
The CAA will be working on a bill that will address the sunsetting of the allowance for a LLC to operate as an ACO within California. Draft language had been developed and at this time a Member is being sourced to carry the bill. This bill will not be controversial and should clear both Houses.
I suspect that in 2024 there will be bills introduced on facial recognition (FR) and artificial intelligence (AI). Not only may such bills appear within California but on the federal level as well.
It is important that the California Alarm Association resumes our direct meetings with the Members and Staffs in the Capitol. The Capitol has reopened for business. The GAC will be working with the CAA President and Trent Smith in arranging for a day during the first quarter of 2024 for this event. All members of the Board need to attend and help provide a voice for our industry in Sacramento.
Provided below are bills that have been signed into law that could have an impact on alarm companies that operate within California. Most of these are on the human resource side.
AB 587, Robert Rivas. Public works: payroll records.
Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to investigate allegations that a contractor or subcontractor violated the law regulating public works projects, including the payment of prevailing wages. Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor on a public works project to keep accurate payroll records, showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the public work. Existing law requires any copy of records made available for inspection as copies and furnished upon request to the public or any public agency to be marked or obliterated to
prevent disclosure of an individual’s name, address, and social security number but specifies that any copy of records made available to a Taft-Hartley trust fund for the purposes of allocating contributions to participants be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual’s full social security number, as specified. Existing law makes any contractor, subcontractor, agent, or representative who neglects to comply with the requirements to keep accurate payroll records guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would require any copy of records requested by, and made available for inspection by or furnished to, a multiemployer Taft-Hartley trust fund or joint labor-management committee be provided on forms provided by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement or contain the same information as the forms provided by the division. The bill would specify that copies of electronic certified payroll records do not satisfy payroll records requests made by Taft-Hartley trust funds and joint labor-management committees. To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on any contractor, subcontractor, agent, or representative, the bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose a state-mandated local program.
AB 594, Maienschein. Labor Code: alternative enforcement.
Existing law prohibits any person or employer from engaging in willful misclassification, as defined, of an individual as an independent contractor instead of an employee and in specified acts relating to the misclassified individual’s compensation. Existing law, if the Labor and Workforce Development Agency or a court makes one of several prescribed determinations regarding the violation of those prohibitions, subjects the violator to specified civil penalties. Existing law also authorizes the Labor Commissioner to determine such a violation through investigation and informal hearing and, on making that determination, to issue a citation to assess those civil penalties pursuant to prescribed procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments.
This bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor, as defined, to enforce these willful misclassification provisions through specified methods, including by investigating an alleged violation, ordering temporary relief, issuance of a citation, and filing a civil action. The bill would also permit specified employees, the Labor Commissioner, or a public prosecutor to alternatively recover certain penalties as damages payable to the employee.
AB 783, Ting. Business licenses: single-user restrooms.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of an incorporated city and the county board of supervisors to license businesses carried on within their respective jurisdictions and to set license fees as specified. Existing law requires all single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or government agency to be identified as all-gender toilet facilities, as specified.
This bill would require a city, county, or city and county that issues business licenses, equivalent instruments, or permits within its jurisdiction to provide written notice to each applicant for a new or renewed business license, equivalent instrument, or permit of the requirement that all single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or government agency be
identified as all-gender toilet facilities. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
AB 947, Gabriel. California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: sensitive personal information.
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected by a business, as defined, including the right to direct a business that collects sensitive personal information about the consumer to limit its use of the consumer’s sensitive personal information to that use which is necessary to perform the services or provide the goods reasonably expected by an average consumer who requests those goods or services, to perform certain other services, and as authorized by certain regulations. The CCPA defines “sensitive personal information to mean personal information that reveals, among other things, a consumer’s racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, or union membership. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA.
This bill would define “sensitive personal information” for purposes of the CCPA to additionally include personal information that reveals a consumer’s citizenship or immigration status.
AB 1076, Bauer-Kahan. Contracts in restraint of trade: noncompete agreements.
Existing law voids contractual provisions by which a person is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind, except as otherwise provided. Existing case law, as established in the case of Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP (2008) 44 Cal.4th 937, interprets this provision to void noncompete agreements in an employment context and noncompete clauses within employment contracts, even if that agreement is narrowly tailored, unless an exception applies.
Existing law, the Unfair Competition Law (UCL), makes various practices unlawful and makes a person who engages in unfair competition liable for a civil penalty, as specified. Existing law provides for enforcement of these provisions exclusively by the Attorney General or other specified local agency attorneys.
This bill would codify existing case law by specifying that the statutory provision voiding noncompete contracts is to be broadly construed to void the application of any noncompete agreement in an employment context, or any noncompete clause in an employment contract, no matter how narrowly tailored, that does not satisfy specified exceptions. The bill would state that this provision is declaratory of existing law. The bill would make these provisions applicable to contracts where the person being restrained is not a party to the contract.
This bill would also make it unlawful to include a noncompete clause in an employment contract, or to require an employee to enter a noncompete agreement, that does not satisfy specified exceptions. The bill would require employers to notify current and former employees in writing by February 14, 2024,
that the noncompete clause or agreement is void, as specified. This bill would make a violation of these provisions an act of unfair competition pursuant to the UCL.
AB 1121, Haney. Public works: ineligibility list.
Existing law generally requires a contractor or subcontractor to be registered with the Department of Industrial Relations to be qualified to bid on, be listed in a bid proposal, or engage in the performance of any public works contract. Existing law requires a contractor or subcontractor to meet specific conditions to qualify for this registration. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to maintain on its internet website a list of contractors that are currently registered to perform public work.
This bill would require awarding authorities to annually submit to the Department of Industrial Relations’ electronic project registration database a list of ineligible contractors, as specified, pursuant to local debarment or suspension processes. This bill would require the department to make the list available to the public through the electronic database.
AB 1204, Holden. Contractors: contracts: restrictions.
Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, defines and regulates the activities of contractors and provides for their licensure, regulation, and discipline by the Contractors State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law classifies the contracting business to include general engineering contracting, general building contracting, residential remodeling contracting, and specialty contracting. Existing law authorizes the issuance of contractors’ licenses to individual owners, partnerships, corporations, and limited liability companies, and authorizes those persons and entities to qualify for a license by the appearance of specified individuals. Existing law prohibits contractors from performing specified acts and provides that a violation of those acts may constitute a cause for disciplinary action.
This bill would prohibit a specialty contractor, as defined, from entering into a contract for the performance of work on the same single project or undertaking with more than one subcontractor in the same license classification unless the subcontractor employs persons who are classified as employees to perform work in that license classification on the single project or undertaking or the specialty contractor is a signatory to a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, as specified. The bill would provide that a violation of this provision constitutes a cause for disciplinary action.
SB 244, Eggman. Right to Repair Act.
Existing law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, provides a comprehensive set of procedures for the enforcement of express and implied warranties on consumer goods, as defined. Under existing law, every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product, including televisions, radios, audio or video recording equipment, major home appliances, antennas, and rotators, with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than $50 nor more than $99.99 is required to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect
the repair of the product for at least 3 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 3-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product. Existing law also requires every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product, as described above, with a wholesale price to the retailer of $100 or more, to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of the product for at least 7 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 7-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
This bill would enact the Right to Repair Act. The bill would require, except as specified and regardless of whether any express warranty is made, the manufacturer of an above-described electronic or appliance product, in the above-described circumstances, and in those same circumstances but sold to others outside of direct retail sales, to make available, on fair and reasonable terms, to product owners, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, the means, as described, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the product, as provided. The bill would also require a service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized repair provider, as defined, of a manufacturer to provide a written notice of that fact to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product, and to disclose if it uses replacement parts that are used or from a supplier that is not the manufacturer. The bill would also authorize a city, a county, a city and county, or the state to bring an action in superior court to impose civil penalties on a person or entity for violating the Right to Repair Act, as provided. The bill would make these requirements and enforcement provisions operative on July 1, 2024.
(3) (A) “Electronic or appliance product” or “product” means a product, manufactured for the first time, and first sold or used in California, on or after July 1, 2021, described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code for which the manufacturer makes available tools, parts, and documentation to authorized repair providers, and includes products described in those subdivisions that are sold to schools, businesses, local governments, or in other methods outside of direct retail sale.
(B) “Electronic or appliance product” or “product” does not include any of the following:
(i) Equipment or repair parts as defined in Chapter 28 (commencing with Section 22900) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code.
(ii) A product or component of an “alarm system” as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 7590.1 of the Business and Professions Code, including a fire protection system, as defined in the California Fire Code.
(iii) A video game console.
SB 553, Cortese. Occupational safety: workplace violence: restraining orders and workplace violence prevention plan.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, imposes safety responsibilities on employers and employees, including the requirement that an employer establish, implement, and maintain an effective injury prevention program, and makes specified violations of these provisions a crime. The act is enforced by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (division) within the
Department of Industrial Relations, including the enforcement of standards adopted by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards board (standards board).
This bill would require an employer, as specified, to also establish, implement, and maintain, at all times in all work areas, an effective workplace violence prevention plan containing specified information. The bill would require the employer to record information in a violent incident log for every workplace violence incident, as specified. The bill would require the employer to provide effective training to employees on the workplace violence prevention plan, among other things, and provide additional training when a new or previously unrecognized workplace violence hazard has been identified and when changes are made to the plan. The bill would require records of workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation, and correction and training records to be created and maintained, and violent incident logs and workplace incident investigation records to be maintained, as specified. The bill would require certain records to be made available to the division, employees, and employee representatives, as specified. The bill would make these requirements operative on and after July 1, 2024.
SB 616, Gonzalez. Sick days: paid sick days accrual and use.
Existing law authorizes an employer to use a different accrual method as long as an employee has no less than 24 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 120th calendar day of employment or each calendar year, or in each 12-month period. Existing law also provides that an employer may satisfy the accrual requirements by providing not less than 24 hours or 3 days of paid sick leave that is available to the employee to use by the completion of the employee’s 120th calendar day of employment.
This bill would modify the employer’s alternate sick leave accrual method to additionally require that an employee have no less than 40 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 200th calendar day of employment or each calendar year, or in each 12-month period. The bill would modify that satisfaction provision to authorize an employer to satisfy accrual requirements by providing, in addition to the existing criteria for satisfaction above, not less than 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave that is available to the employee to use by the completion of the employee’s 200th calendar day of employment.
Existing law requires accrued paid sick days to carry over to the following year of employment. Existing law, however, authorizes an employer to limit an employee’s use of accrued paid sick days to 24 hours or 3 days in each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period. Under existing law, this provision is satisfied and no accrual or carryover is required if the full amount of leave is received at the beginning of each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period. Existing law defines “full amount of leave” for these purposes to mean 3 days or 24 hours.
This bill would raise the employer’s authorized limitation on the use of carryover sick leave to 40 hours or 5 days in each year of employment. The bill would redefine “full amount of leave” to mean 5 days or 40 hours.
SB 630, Dodd. Contractors State License Board: regulation of contractors.
(1) Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of contractors by the Contractors State License Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs. That law requires an applicant, registrant, or licensee to provide certain information to the board.
This bill would additionally require an applicant, registrant, or licensee that has a valid email address to provide the board with that email address at the time of application or renewal, as applicable.
(2) Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires a state or local public agency to make public records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee, unless the records are exempt from disclosure.
The bill would provide that the above-specified email addresses are not subject to disclosure under prescribed law, including the California Public Records Act, except as specified.
SB 699, Caballero. Contracts in restraint of trade.
Existing law regulates business activities in order to maintain competition. Existing law voids contractual provisions by which a person is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind, except as otherwise provided.
This bill would establish that any contract that is void under the law described above is unenforceable regardless of where and when the contract was signed. The bill would prohibit an employer or former employer from attempting to enforce a contract that is void regardless of whether the contract was signed and the employment was maintained outside of California.
The bill would prohibit an employer from entering into a contract with an employee or prospective employee that includes a provision that is void under the law described above. The bill would establish that an employer who violates that law commits a civil violation. The bill would authorize an employee, former employee, or prospective employee to bring an action to enforce that law for injunctive relief or the recovery of actual damages, or both, and would provide that a prevailing employee, former employee, or prospective employee is entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
SB 700, Bradford. Employment discrimination: cannabis use.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, prohibits various forms of employment discrimination and empowers the Civil Rights Department to investigate and prosecute complaints alleging unlawful practices. Existing law, on and after January 1, 2024, makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person because of the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace, except as specified.
This bill would make it unlawful for an employer to request information from an applicant for employment relating to the applicant’s prior use of cannabis, as specified. Under the bill, information about a person’s prior cannabis use obtained from the person’s criminal history would be exempt from
the above-described existing law and bill provisions relating to prior cannabis use if the employer is permitted to consider or inquire about that information under a specified provision of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act or other state or federal law.
SB 790, Padilla. Public records: contracts for goods and services.
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires public records to be open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the state or local agency that retains those records, and provides that every person has a right to inspect any public record, except as provided. The act requires state and local agencies to make public records available upon receipt of a request for a copy that reasonably describes an identifiable record not otherwise exempt from disclosure, and upon payment of fees to cover costs.
This bill would provide that any executed contract for the purchase of goods or services by a state or local agency, including the price and terms of payment, is a public record subject to disclosure under the act. The bill would provide that any provision in a written agreement that purports to exclude a contract specified above from disclosure by agreeing to consider it a confidential or proprietary record of the vendor is void and unenforceable as a matter of law. By placing additional duties and responsibilities upon local agencies in connection with requests for inspection of records, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
SB 848, Rubio. Employment: leave for reproductive loss.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by any employee to take up to 5 days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member.
This bill would additionally make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 5 days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event, as defined. The bill would require that leave be taken within 3 months of the event, except as described, and pursuant to any existing leave policy of the employer. The bill would provide that if an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, the employer is not obligated to grant a total amount of reproductive loss leave time in excess of 20 days within a 12-month period. Under the bill, in the absence of an existing policy, the reproductive loss leave may be unpaid. However, the bill would authorize an employee to use certain other leave balances otherwise available to the employee, including accrued and available paid sick leave. The bill would make leave under these provisions a separate and distinct right from any right under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Alyssa’s Law: On February 14, 2018, an armed assailant returned to his former high school and unleashed a senseless tragedy upon students, faculty, and staff. The shooting claimed the lives of 17 individuals at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while injuring 17 others. The event, which took place in the Miami suburb of Parkland FL became the deadliest mass shooting in a high school in United States history even suppressing casualty rates from the Columbine shooting in 1999.
In wake of the Parkland shooting, community members and parents rallied to create new policies that would reduce risks associated with future shooting events. Alyssa Alhadeff was a 14 year old student killed in the shooting, and her mother, Lori Alhadeff, took deliberate action in the weeks that followed. Ms. Alhadeff’s advocacy led to the creation of legislation, known as Alyssa’s Law, that mandates mobile panic alarm installation in elementary and secondary schools.
As of June 2020, Alyssa’s Law was passed in Florida, where the Parkland shooting took place. Prior to that, the legislation was voted into law in New Jersey in February 2019.
As of 2022, Alyssa’s Law has passed in New York, Texas and Tennessee. The law has been proposed in states Nebraska, Arizona, Virginia, Oregon and Georgia. Texas representative Roger Williams has introduced a federal version of the bill to bring Alyssa’s Law federally.
Elicia’s law calls for the installation of mobile panic alert systems in public and charter schools. By law, these alert systems must:
• Connect to multiple emergency services communications.
• Facilitate real time communication between first responders and responding agencies.
• Integrate with any pre-established PSAP.
• Transmit all 911 calls and mobile activations.
While this law has yet to be introduced in California, administrators and School Boards are aware of the law and the threat of active shooters to school campuses. There are now on the market several products that can be installed within a school and integrated into a central station for dispatching of law enforcement.
Negative Option Rule: the Federal Trade Commission is considering rule making regarding the negative option rule. Negative option marketing serves as a critical tool to offer novel and innovative services and products to consumers and these services are responsibly utilized across numerous sectors including communications, insurance, retail, media, on demand delivery, and information technology. Negative option marketing provides substantial benefits allowing consumers to receive products and services on a consistent, convenient, and cost-effective basis. Businesses benefit by getting the opportunity to demonstrate the value of their product or service through a free trial and earn new customers. Furthermore, as this type of marketing has been used, on a widespread and growing basis, for decades, the consumers are familiar with the operation of negative options.
In closing I would like to thank the members of the committee for their work in 2023:
- Holly Borgmann
- Brian Boeglin
- Ron Lander
- Morgan Hertel
- Tim Westphal
In addition, the work of the GAC could not proceed without the assistance of Trent Smith and Les Gold.
Respectfully Submitted.
Shane M. Clary
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