Spring Valley Representatives Author 17 New California Laws

A new year brings hundreds of new laws for California residents. Ten of those laws were authored or co-authored by Assemblyman Marty Block and Sen. Joel Anderson both of whom represent the Mt. Helix and Spring Valley areas. Here's a complete list of laws that will go into effect beginning Sunday.

AB 188: Disabled Veterans – Property Tax Exemption
AB 188 would make a 100 percent disabled veterans’ property tax exemption available to the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran or service member killed on active duty, allowing them to continue to receive the property tax exemption (up to a described level) on their home, even if they need to enter an assisted living facility.
 

AB 503: Counting Every Vote
AB 503 permits votes for qualified write-in candidates to be counted in certain circumstances if the intent of the voter can be determined, even if the voter did not mark the “bubble” next to the write-in space on a ballot.
 

AB 620: Preventing Bullying, Promoting Safety for LGBT Students in Higher Education
AB 620 improves the campus climate for LGBT students at public colleges and universities by improving the collection and reporting of data to further identify best practices for campuses to model, requiring LGBT issues liaisons at campuses and by adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to campus anti-discrimination policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying in their student codes of conduct.

AB 648: Sentencing Commutation
AB 648, co-authored by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, D-Poway, requires the applicant for a commutation to notify the District Attorney 10 days before the Governor acts. The District Attorney would then notify the victim and/or their family, allowing both parties an opportunity to submit a recommendation for or against the commutation.

AB 668: Religious Accommodations for CSU Examinations
AB 668 defines undue hardship in the Education Code, which allows CSU students to reschedule examinations at an alternate time if the scheduled time violates the student’s religious creed, unless it causes an undue hardship for the university.

AB 670: CSU Appeals Process
AB 670 ensures that each campus of the California State University has a clear appeals process for students who are denied admission. This measure seeks to make sure that applicants who are denied admission are notified of the campus appeals process, how long they have to appeal and ensure that each campus lists their appeals process on their websites so interested parties can access that information.

AB 680: School Safety Plans
AB 680 helps keep school children, faculty and staff safe by clarifying that sensitive elements of a school safety plan that include sensitive tactical response strategies to deadly attacks are exempt from disclosure to the public.

AB 684: Conforming Community College Trustee Elections to CA Voting Rights Act
AB 684 authorizes trustee area elections for California Community College Districts who pass a resolution locally and then seek and obtain approval from the State Board of Governors.

AB 713: National Guard Legal Benefits
AB 713 will provide significant financial protections for our service members who are deployed multiple times.

AB 743: Community College Assessment Program
AB 743 increases the efficiency of community college student assessments by establishing a statewide common assessment system to ensure that students are properly placed.

AB 795: College Campus Smoking Policy Enforcement
AB 795 gives authority to any California Community College (CCC), California State University (CSU), and University of California (UC) to enforce state, local and system-wide smoking and tobacco laws, regulations and policies by issuing fines, under $100.

AB 1013: Private Post-Secondary Technical Clean-up
AB 1013 provides for two technical changes to the Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, enacted by AB 48. The bill allows the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to authorize subject specific ability-to-benefit tests, if a relevant U.S. Department of Education-approved test is not available. The bill also corrects a technical error regarding refund calculations.

AB 1194: Updating the California Safe Water Drinking Act
AB 1194 conforms existing statutes related to drinking water to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) standards. Some of California’s laws fail to comply with the federal SDWA, placing the state at risk of loss of significant federal funds to create and maintain public water systems.

AB 1304: Linked Learning
AB 1304 authorizes the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to form a work group for the purposes of defining and issuing a “recognition of study," which acknowledges a completed field of study in linked learning.

Anderson authored or co-authored the following new laws:

• SB 918 allows a mutual water company to elect directors to staggered 4-year terms rather than at annual board meetings.
• SB 26, co-authored by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, increases penalties for illegal use, possession or transporting of a cell phone and “facilitates the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's efforts to implement a managed access system to block authorized wireless transmissions.”
• AB 316, co-authored by Assemblywoman Wilmer Carter, D-Rialto, classifies stolen copper materials exceeding $950 as grand theft.

Check back with Patch to find a list of the "10 Most Interesting New California Laws."