California Law Changes Affecting Business

Thousands of new laws were proposed in the California Legislature during 2010, and more than 700 of them – many affecting businesses – were passed. Most of those take effect Jan. 1, 2011.

Below is a highlight of some, but not all, of the bills affecting businesses and business owners.

Only the highlights of some of these bills, or some of the provisions within a bill, are noted below. Individual businesses should consult with experts in their fields for interpretations as to how a given law may affect them.

Construction trucking services

AB 145-De Leon

Prohibits a broker of construction trucking services from furnishing construction transportation services to any construction project unless it has secured a surety bond of no less than $15,000.

Self-storage facilities

AB 655-Emmerson

If an occupant has not paid the full amount due within 14 days of a termination date, the owner may deny the occupant access to the space, enter the space, and remove any property to safekeeping.

Intellectual property

AB 819-Calderon

Statutory law that became inoperative in January 2010 is now made operative. Fines are doubled for manufacturing counterfeit goods. Violation of music protection laws provides that a court order restitution when a person violates provisions of the law.

Continuing care retirement communities

AB 1433-Eng

Care communities may relocate residents to a temporary location in the case of a natural disaster that is out of the provider's control. It limits relocation to a period not to exceed 18 months and requires that provider provide comparable levels of care and include the residents to terminate any agreements in their contract.

Real estate advance fees

AB 1762-Hayashi

"Advance fee" is defined to mean a fee, regardless of the form, that is claimed for services before fully completing the service the licensee is contracting to perform, with certain exceptions. The bill would exempt from that definition a contract between a real estate broker and a principal that requires payment of a commission to the broker after the contract is fully performed.

HERS energy audits

AB 190-Smyth

This bill would authorize a home inspector to conduct a Home Energy Rating System audit, if requested by the client.

Discrimination in employment

AB 1814-Buchanan

An employer is not prohibited from providing health benefits or health care reimbursement plans to retired persons that are altered, reduced or eliminated when the retiree becomes eligible for Medicare benefits.

Health facilities

AB 1863-Gaines

These requirements for a health facility to test its diesel-powered backup generators 12 times a year and more, is repealed until January 2016.

Alcoholic beverage IDs

AB 1896-Jeffries

Military ID cards issued to a member of the Armed Forces, that include the date of birth and a photo of the person, are considered bona fide evidence of age to buy alcohol.

Solar energy

AB 1947-Fong

Local publicly-owned electric utilities may adopt, implement and finance a solar initiative program, with electricity generated by a solar energy system not located on the premises of the consumer, to offset part or all of a residential and business consumer's electricity demand.

Chiropractors

AB 1996-Hill

The annual renewal fee for each licensee is raised to $250.

Property insurance

AB 2022-Gaines

Property insurance policies will simplify the description of types of coverage and are to include additional information concerning insurance limits. The bill also revises and simplifies the California Residential Property Insurance Bill of Rights.

Mobile home parks

AB 2120-Silva

The requirement that management provide all homeowners with a copy of the Mobilehome Residency Law by February 1 of each year, if a significant change was made in those provisions, to a requirement that management provide homeowners with a copy of the law or merely notify them that a change has been made in the provisions, and provide a copy to the homeowner upon request.

Alcoholic beverages

AB 2134-Chesbro

Licensed beer manufacturers and holders of a beer and wine importer's general license may conduct an instructional event held at an on-sale retail licensee's premises featuring beer, subject to specified conditions.

Corporate board

AB 2158-Hagman

Existing law, the General Corporation Law, provides that an action required or permitted to be taken by the board of a corporation may be taken without a meeting if all members of the board consent in writing to that action and that a member may abstain in writing. The law was set to expire January 2011. This bill extends the provision indefinitely.

'Clinical therapists'

AB 2191-Emmerson

The Board of Behavioral Sciences will be required to issue a retired license to a marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker, educational psychologist, or professional clinical counselor who holds a license. The bill prohibits the holder of a retired license from engaging in related activity and provides for the holder to apply to have his or her license restored to active status. The bill would fix the retired license fee at $40.

Workers' compensation

AB 2253-Coto

For active firefighting members of certain state and local fire departments and in the case of certain peace officers, a compensable injury includes cancer that is presumed to have arisen out of the course of employment. This bill extends coverage to a member following termination of service for a period of three calendar months, not to exceed 120 months, from the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.

Dental coverage

AB 2275-Hayashi

A health care service plan contract with a dentist cannot require a dentist to accept an amount set by the plan as payment for dental care services provided to the person insured, that are not covered services under the insured's policy. The bill also prohibits a provider from charging more than his or her usual and customary rate for dental services not covered under a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy.

Smog checks

AB 2289-Eng

The Department of Consumer Affairs will issue inspection-based performance standards that stations would be required to meet; and it will be authorized to adopt a process by which vehicles that present prohibitive or unusual inspection circumstances are inspected by referees. The department's authority with respect to the smog check program will change, including requirements relating to testing equipment and motor vehicle emission data. The authority of the department to issue a citation to a smog check station or technician is changing, including authorizing civil penalties up to $5,000 for a violation of smog check requirements.

Workers' compensation-contractors

AB 2305-Knight

Existing law requires private contractors to secure the payment of compensation by obtaining and maintaining workers' compensation insurance or to self-insure as an individual employer or as one employer in a group of employers among other requirements. Provisions set to expire in January are extended through January 1, 2013.

Unemployment benefits

AB 2364-Nava

This bill revises various provisions governing eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits to specify that a claimant is eligible for benefits where he or she left an employer's employ to protect his or her family from domestic violence abuse. Any warrant drawn on an account in an unemployment fund will now revert to the account and the fund from which the amount was payable after one year.

Unemployment benefits

AB 2055-De La Torre

This bill would specify that, for purposes of those provisions governing eligibility for benefits and employer's reserve accounts, good cause if an employee leaves employment to accompany his or her spouse or domestic partner to a place from which it is impracticable to commute to the employment. Under the bill "domestic partner" also includes a person to whom domestic partnership, as described, is imminent, just as "spouse" includes a person to whom marriage is imminent.

Prepackaged foods

AB 2432-Perez

A permanent food facility that has less than 300 square feet of display area, and that sells only prepackaged food that is not potentially hazardous food, is exempt from the requirements of the California Retail Food Code.

Conservators

AB2493-Fuller

A conservator of a person must ensure that a clear photograph of the conservatee is taken and preserved for the purpose of identifying the conservatee if he or she goes missing.

Franchise taxes

AB 2671-Cook

This bill exempts a corporation and a limited liability company that are small businesses, solely owned by a deployed member of the United States Armed Forces, from paying the minimum franchise tax, or the annual tax, if the company ceases operation or operates at a loss, until on or after January 1, 2018.

Health care facilities

AB 2675-Chesbro

Licensure of an intermediate care facility will include the requirement that applicants complete 16-hour orientation programs on and after October 1.

Optometry

AB 2683-Hernandez

This bill authorizes the practice of optometry at a health facility or residential care facility provided the optometrist meets specified requirements. This bill also authorizes an assistant to fit prescription lenses and perform those additional duties in any setting where optometry or ophthalmology is practiced, under the direct responsibility and supervision of a physician and surgeon, optometrist, or ophthalmologist, respectively.

Health care practitioners

AB 2699-Bass

This bill changes the requirements for a health care practitioner, licensed in another state, who provides health care during a state of emergency, until January 1, 2014. The bill also prohibits a contract of liability insurance issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2011, from excluding coverage of these practitioners or a sponsoring entity for providing care under these circumstances.

Insurance agents or brokers

AB 2717-Skinner

The Insurance Commissioner must approve a "senior" designation and the commissioner may rescind approval of a designation.

Safe workplaces

AB 2774-Swanson

This bill establishes a rebuttable presumption as to when an employer commits a serious violation of safe workplace provisions, and establishes new procedures and standards for an investigation and the determination by the division of a serious violation by an employer which causes harm or exposes an employee to the risk of harm.

The State Bar act

AB 2764-Committee on Judiciary

The date on which the board of governors charges annual membership fees for active members will move up to the first day of February of each year. The bill would also specify that the annual membership fee for active members and inactive members is payable on or before the first day.

The State Bar act

SB 55-Corbett

This bill would require the State Bar to comply with the standards applicable to state agency contracts, for information technology goods, services, or both, only when the contract is for an aggregate amount in excess of $100,000. This bill also requires certain registration fees be used for regulatory and disciplinary purposes.

Legal representation

SB 877-Harman

Existing law permits persons admitted to the Bar to represent a party in an arbitration proceeding or render legal services in this state with an arbitration proceeding in another state. Out-of-state attorneys must serve a certificate containing specified information within a reasonable period of time after the attorney expresses his or her intent to appear in arbitration. The law was set to expire in January and has been extended to January 1, 2013.

Economic development

AB 2798-Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy

The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency is the primary agency responsible for facilitating economic development in the state. Additional terms are defined for the purposes relating to economic development.

Residential building safety

SB 183

Transferors of real property improved with 1 to 4 dwelling units will use revised disclosure regarding carbon monoxide devices, and a statement specifying that installation of the device is not a precondition to sale or transfer. A State Fire Marshal is required to certify and approve the devices. A transfer of title is not invalidated on the basis of a failure to comply with these requirements.

Plastic bags

SB 228-SeDaulnier

This bill would require, beginning July 1, 2011, a manufacturer of a compostable plastic bag meet the specified standards to ensure that the compostable plastic bag is "readily and easily identifiable" from other plastic bags.

Podiatrists

SB 953-Walters

Existing law exempts a licensee liability for civil damages in rendering specified emergency care and prohibits construing this provision to authorize a podiatrist to act beyond certain scope of practice limitations. This bill would delete that prohibition.

Auto dealers

SB 1004-Huff

Vehicle dealers will be allowed to post a true and exact copy of the license issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to the dealer and to each salesperson employed by the dealer. This bill also authorizes a department director to order a deposit to be returned at the expiration of 5 years from the date the licensee secured and maintained a dealer bond, after posting a deposit, if the director is satisfied that there are no outstanding claims against the deposit. Dealers will be required to provide a document to consumers, in at least 10-point type, that contains certain information pertaining to credit scores. The laws pertaining to a vehicle salesperson's license are changing along with a provision that does not preclude a vehicle salesperson from working for more than one dealer, provided that all of the licensed dealers for whom that salesperson works have common controlling ownership.

Wills and revocable trusts

SB 1041-Harman

Exceptions to the hearsay will be expanded to permit the admission of evidence of a statement made by a declarant, who is unavailable as a witness, that he or she has or has not established or amended a revocable trust, or has or has not revoked his or her revocable trust or an amendment to a revocable trust, or that identifies his or her revocable trust or an amendment to a revocable trust.

Physician assistants

SB 1069-Payley

A physician assistant may act as an agent of a supervising physician and conduct physical examinations and provide other medical services. The bill would also authorize a physician assistant to perform physical examinations as required for participation in interscholastic athletic programs; and to order durable medical equipment and make arrangements with regard to home health services or personal care services.

The specific wording of each law may be found at www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html. Select the "2009-2010PRIOR" option from the drop-down menu in the legislative "Session" and search by the specific house: Assembly or Senate. Enter the last name of the bill's author or the name of the legislative committee, as noted beside each bill highlighted above.