Amended  IN  Senate  March 16, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1294

Introduced by Senator Cortese

February 18, 2022

An act to amend Section 39690 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to air resources. add Article 7 (commencing with Section 14120) to Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to workforce development.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1294, as amended, Cortese. Air pollution: purchase of new drayage and short-haul trucks: incentive programs: eligibility. Workforce wellness center: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.
(1) The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act provides for workforce development activities, including activities in which states may participate.
Existing state law provides that the California Workforce Development Board is the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California’s workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce.
Existing law, the State Budget Act of 2021, appropriates specified funds to the board for local assistance, including $10,000,000 for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for worker support and assistance, including mental health services, worker training, retraining, trauma counseling, and reasonable accommodations. Existing law additionally requires the board to allocate $10,000,000 to the VTA for worker support and facilities improvement, and requires the VTA to first prioritize worker support and assistance, including mental health services, worker training, retraining, trauma counseling, and reasonable accommodations.
This bill would require the board, in collaboration with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the VTA, and the California Health and Human Services Agency, to perform prescribed duties, including analyzing the effectiveness of the VTA’s wellness center, drafting a model plan for the development and implementation of a worker wellness center, and developing a plan to encourage the establishment of worker wellness center demonstration sites statewide in high-stress industries. The bill would require the VTA to provide the board with data and outcomes from its wellness center that are necessary for the evaluation required by this bill, as specified. By imposing new duties on a local agency to report information to the board, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. On or before December 31, 2023, the bill would require the board to prepare and send to the Legislature a report on the results of its evaluation conducted and the plans developed pursuant to these provisions.
(2) This bill would make legislative related findings and declarations, including findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the VTA.
(3) 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.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes various incentive programs that are administered or funded by the State Air Resources Board to provide financial assistance for the purchase of vehicles by individuals and fleet purchasers. Existing law also establishes specified labor standards that a fleet purchaser is required to meet in order to be eligible to receive incentives for new drayage and short-haul trucks under the incentive programs beginning with the 2022–23 fiscal year.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those eligibility requirements.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

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


SECTION 1.

 Article 7 (commencing with Section 14120) is added to Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, to read:
Article  7. Workforce Wellness Centers

14120.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Workplace shootings, especially in high-stress industries such as transit agencies, have resulted in numerous deaths across California.
(b) On May 26, 2021, a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) employee entered the Guadalupe rail yard and began a shooting rampage that killed nine of his coworkers before taking his own life. This shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the San Francisco Bay area. The shooting occurred in locations integral to the operation of the light rail service, particularly adjacent to the Operational Control Center room and the entry to the entire second floor of the administration center, resulting in a 13-week shut down of rail services.
(c) In response, the Legislature appropriated $20,000,000 to help the VTA and workers recover from the tragedy. The VTA was required by the state to create a joint labor management committee to provide recommendations for the use of those funds, including establishing a worker wellness center where workers and their families could receive onsite support and assistance, including peer-to-peer and trauma counseling and other mental health services.

14121.
 (a) The board, in collaboration with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and the California Health and Human Services Agency, shall do all of the following:
(1) Analyze the effectiveness of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s wellness center.
(2) Identify interventions that promote employee wellness, prevention and early intervention, and peer-to-peer support.
(3) Review state gun control laws that permit law enforcement agencies or family members to petition a court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may present a danger to others or themselves.
(4) Develop a worker reporting structure that focuses on prevention and early intervention and ways to foster peer reporting.
(5) Draft a model plan for the development and implementation of a worker wellness center that provides services and support to workers and their families.
(6) Develop a plan to encourage the establishment of worker wellness center demonstration sites statewide in high-stress industries to reduce workplace violence. The board, in collaboration with local workforce development boards, shall identify and partner with local employers in target industries, and shall identify five potential locations to establish worker wellness centers in high-stress industries across the state.
(b) In developing the plans described in paragraphs (5) and (6) of subdivision (a), the board shall consider all of the following:
(1) Funding sustainability, including the prospects for securing federal matching funds and billing private insurers.
(2) Linkages to county behavioral health services agencies.
(3) Ways to streamline workers’ compensation claims resulting from workplace violence.
(c) (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority shall provide the board with data and outcomes from its wellness center that are necessary for the evaluation required by this section.
(2) Data and outcomes provided pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be aggregated and deidentified in a manner that prevents the identification of an individual who is a subject of that information.
(d) (1) Pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, the board shall prepare and send to the Legislature a report on the results of its evaluation conducted and plans developed pursuant to this section on or before December 31, 2023.
(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed by this subdivision is inoperative on January 1, 2028, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique circumstances of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority described in Section 14120 of Unemployment Insurance Code proposed by this act.

SEC. 3.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1.Section 39690 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
39690.

(a)Beginning with the 2022–23 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, a fleet purchaser of new drayage and short-haul trucks is eligible to participate in an incentive program subject to this chapter if it can demonstrate that it does not have any applicable law violation at the time of applying for the incentive, is not on the list maintained by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement under Section 2810.4 of the Labor Code, and attests it will retain direct control over the manner and means for performance of any individual using or driving the vehicle.

(b)In order to comply with subdivision (a), a fleet purchaser shall attest in writing to all of the following:

(1)That it does not have any applicable law violation at the time of applying for the incentive.

(2)That it will maintain compliance with applicable laws for at least three years from the date of application for incentives or the duration of the incentive agreement, whichever is longer.

(3)That it will retain direct control over the manner and means for performance of any individual using or driving the vehicle for at least three years from the date of application for incentives or the duration of the incentive agreement, whichever is longer.

(c)A fleet purchaser that receives an incentive as a grant, loan, or other form of agreement shall, on a yearly basis, for the life of the contract entered into pursuant to Section 39687, disclose or provide to the state board all of the following:

(1)An attestation in writing that it has done both of the following:

(A)Maintained compliance with applicable laws and does not have any applicable law violations.

(B)Maintained direct control of the individuals operating the vehicle, and maintained full ownership and operational control of the vehicle.

(2)A copy of any judgments, rulings, citations, decisions, orders, or awards finding that the fleet purchaser or a parent company or subsidiary or other commonly controlled entity has applicable law violations as of the date of the disclosure made pursuant to this subdivision.

(3)A list of all operating authorities under which the vehicle purchased will be or was operated.

(4)A certification that the fleet purchaser has completed all required maintenance and upkeep on the vehicle purchased with the incentive.

(d)A fleet purchaser that is on the list maintained by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement under Section 2810.4 of the Labor Code is not eligible to participate in an incentive program pursuant to this chapter.