New civil legislation in California

Five civil bills have been signed by the governor, and three have been vetoed.

Read Follow Our Courts’ coverage on court-related legislation here, and criminal-related legislation here.

• SB 1358 by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) – State claims.
  • A version of this bill is passed every year, to pay out civil lawsuits that California lost, if enough money is not available. This year’s payout is $2.88 million, for two lawsuits, according to a legislative report. The larger lawsuit was brought by the conservative Thomas More Law Center. California threatened to suspend the center’s registration in 2012 because the nonprofit refused to submit a list of its donors who donated more than $5,000, as required by state law. The center sued, and won on the grounds that requiring a list of donors violates freedom of association. $2.76 million is for attorney’s fees over 10 years. The second lawsuit was similar, in which the Attorney General threatened to sue the Institute for Free Speech for redacting the names and addresses of donors in the required form. The state settled that case for $250,000.
  • The bill passed both houses unanimously.
• AB 1788 by Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo County) – Sex trafficking: hotels: actual knowledge or reckless disregard: civil penalty.
  • Allows cities, counties and district attorneys to place civil penalties on hotels if the hotel knew or disregarded sex trafficking in the hotel, and did not inform law enforcement. The penalties start at $1,000 for a first time, $3,000 for a second time, and $5,000 for any additional fines within that year. If the number of fines in a year hit four, courts could also increase the penalty to $10,000.
  • “This bill will fill the gap in enforcement and give local courts the ability to hold bad actors accountable and deter hotel and motel employees from turning a blind eye,” Cunningham said in a legislative report.
  • The bill passed the Assembly 77-1 and the Senate 32-2.
  • All Inland Empire representatives voted for the bill, with the exception of Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), who did not vote.
• SB 688 by Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) – Civil actions: judgments by confession.
  • Prevents “judgments by confession” from being enforced. Before this bill was approved, a creditor could include a clause in their contract with a debtor that avoided lawsuits. The clause would say that the debtor would have to pay the money back if they breached a lawsuit. When submitted to the court, that agreement became a legal judgment without any involvement by a judge.
  • “No one – whether an individual or small business owner – should be subject to such contractual language in order to secure a loan. A confession of judgment effectively permits a creditor – who typically is the drafter of the contract and sets terms – to unilaterally decide that an obligor has breached the contract, bypass the court, and go directly to collections: seizing assets, levying accounts, and garnishing wages,” Wieckowski said in a legislative report.
  • The bill passed the Assembly 59-15 and the Senate 31-9.
  • Sens. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) and Richard Roth (D-Riverside), and Assemblymembers James Ramos (D-Highland), Jose Medina (D-Riverside), Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona), Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage) and Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) voted for the bill. 
  • Sens. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa) and Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore), and Assemblymembers Phillip Chen (R-Yorba Linda), Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) and Thurston Smith (R-Hesperia) voted against the bill. 
  • Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) did not vote.
• SB 1085 by Sen. Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) – Juveniles: dependency: jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
  • A child can no longer be separated from their family based only on the family’s financial troubles. “Poverty and a historical lack of access to resources, especially for racial minorities, should not be further adjudicated by our Court, separating families for unreasonable and arbitrary reasons,” the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter, wrote in support of the bill.
  • The bill passed the Assembly 56-11 and the Senate 36-0.
  • Sens. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa), Connie Leyva (D-Chino), Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) and Richard Roth (D-Riverside), and Assemblymembers James Ramos (D-Highland), Jose Medina (D-Riverside), Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona), Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) and Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) voted for the bill. 
  • Assemblymembers Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta), Thurston Smith (R-Hesperia) and Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) voted against the bill. 
  • Sen. Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) and Assemblymembers Phillip Chen (R-Yorba Linda) and Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage) did not vote.
• SB 1279 by Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa) – Guardian ad litem appointment.
  • Courts can now assign a guardian ad litem to represent a person who lacks the legal capacity to make a decision during probate. Previously, these representatives were limited to minors and incapacitated people. The bill also requires proposed guardians ad litem to disclose conflicts of interest and relationships with any of the parties. It also gives the conservator of a person’s estate an early ability to apply to be their guardian ad litem.
  • The bill passed both houses unanimously.

Vetoed

• AB 1714 by Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) and its partner bill SB 1406 by Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) – Excluded employees: binding arbitration. A veto message can be found here.
  • Would have allowed state employee supervisors to request binding arbitration instead of litigation. State supervisors are typically excluded from employee organizations. “This bill would cut the cost to the State and the Excluded Employee organizations to resolve grievances that are now filed in Superior Court which takes years to resolve and great expense to the State and the Excluded Employee organizations,” Cooper wrote. Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote that the arbitration would be costly, and that the bill could conflict with statutory authority of CalHR and the Legislature.
  • AB 1714 passed both houses unanimously, and SB 1406 passed the Assembly 75-1 and the Senate 39-0, with the support of all Inland Empire representatives.
• AB 2189 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) – Foster youth. A veto message can be found here.
  • Would have allowed individuals to stay in the foster system even after they turn 21 years old, if the county had not yet finished transitioning the youth by finding them housing and benefits. “The promise and potential of the EFC program falls short when we fail to connect enrollees to the services and supports that they are entitled to under the law,” Friedman wrote. Gov. Gavin Newsom believed the bill would have cost millions of dollars that the state did not have, he wrote in his veto message.
  • The bill passed both houses unanimously.