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CFRW Capitol Update, May 22, 2023

Updated: May 24, 2023

If you are interested in taking a position on a bill, you can do so by utilizing the resources at CA Legislature Info


SB 224, as amended, Hurtado. Agricultural land: foreign ownership and interests: foreign governments. Co-Authors, Cortese, Grove, Nguyen, Ochoa Bogh.


05/18/23 - May 18 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.


Existing law provides that all property has an owner, whether that owner is the state, and the property is public, or the owner is an individual, and the property is private.


Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services, which is responsible for the state’s emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, among other duties.


This bill would prohibit a foreign government from purchasing, acquiring, leasing, or holding a controlling interest, as defined, in agricultural land within the State of California. The bill would exempt land held by foreign governments before January 1, 2024, from that prohibition. The bill would provide that land transferred in violation of these provisions would be subject to divestiture, as specified.


Existing federal law requires any foreign person, defined to include foreign governments, who acquires or transfers any interest, other than a security interest, in agricultural land to submit to the United States Secretary of Agriculture a report containing specified information relating to, among other things, the type of interest the foreign person acquired or transferred and their legal name, address, and citizenship or country in which they are created or organized. Existing federal law requires the secretary every 6 months to transmit to each state department of agriculture a copy of each report that was submitted to the secretary in the most recent 6-month period and that involved agricultural land located in that state.


This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with the appropriate boards or departments and based on the above-described reports from the United States Secretary of Agriculture, and other information the office deems appropriate, to compile an annual report containing, among other information, the total amount of agricultural land that is under foreign ownership, how that land is currently being put to use, and any legislative, regulatory, or administrative policy recommendations in light of the information from the annual report. The bill would require the office to publish the inaugural annual report on its website by December 31, 2024, and by March 31 every year thereafter. The bill would require the office to deliver copies of any recommendations for legislative policy changes contained in the report to the Governor and the Assembly and Senate Committees on Agriculture. The bill would require the office to be reimbursed for costs incurred for compiling data, printing, and mailing the report, as specified. The bill would make its provisions operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.


This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.



SB 89, as amended, Ochoa Bogh. Crimes: stalking.


05/18/23 - Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

05/18/23 - From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (May 18).


Existing law makes a person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for the person’s safety, or the safety of the person’s immediate family, guilty of the crime of stalking, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony.


This bill would instead also make a person guilty of stalking if the personhas the intent to harm or the intent to place under surveillance for the purpose of harming another person, and engages in conduct that either places that person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury to themselves, a close family member, or a pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse that belongs to that person, or causes, attempts to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to one of the above persons.willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for the safety of that person’s pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse. By changing the definition of a crime, 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.


This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.


AB 808, as amended, Mathis. Crimes: rape.


04/11/23 - In committee: Set, final hearing. Failed passage. Reconsideration granted.


Existing law prohibits an act of sexual intercourse accomplished against a person’s will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another. Existing law provides a greater punishment for this offense if the victim is a minor, as specified.


Existing law also prohibits an act of sexual intercourse with a person who is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the act.


This bill would also impose a greater punishment for this offense if the victim is a minor, as specified.


This bill would impose a greater punishment for prohibited acts of sexual intercourse, as defined, if the victim is a developmentally disabled minor, as specified and defined, and the person committing the prohibited acts knows or should have known that the person is developmentally disabled. The bill would specifically require a person who commits these offenses upon a person who is 10 years of age or younger to be prosecuted pursuant to another statute providing even greater punishment.


By increasing the punishment for crime, this bill would create 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.


This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.


AB 298, as amended, Mathis. State Capitol: Monument to blind veterans.Honoring Our Blind Veterans Act.


05/11/23 - In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

05/11/23 - Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 66. Noes 0.)


Existing law provides for various memorials and monuments within the State Capitol Building and on the State Capitol grounds. Existing law prescribes various duties of the Department of General Services in connection with the development and maintenance of the State Capitol Building and grounds.


This bill would authorize a nonprofit organization that represents blind veterans, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to plan, construct, and maintain a braille American flag to serve as a monument to the blind veterans of California and the United States in the State Capitol Building. The bill would specify duties for the Department of General Services in connection with the planning, construction, and maintenance of the monument. The bill would prohibit the construction of the monument until the Joint Rules Committee of the California Legislature approves and adopts a plan for the monument and the committee and the Department of Finance determine that sufficient private funding is available to construct and maintain the monument.

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