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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In its last meeting of the year, the Board of Supervisors voted to give its members a 40% hike that will go into effect in March if not challenged by referendum.
The raise amounts to an annual increase to the supervisors’ base salaries of more than $25,500, or an additional $2,100 a month.
The board had previously discussed the proposal in November and had voted to bring it back, at the latest, by Jan. 23.
However, it came before Christmas, on Dec. 20.
Earlier in the meeting, in a 3-2 vote, the board denied a request by the Behavioral Health Services Department to offer an advanced step request for a highly qualified senior substance abuse counselor candidate in a difficult-to-fill position, a matter raised during the board raise discussion. Human Resources staff raised questions about equity and process.
The ordinance that implements the supervisorial pay raise will require a second reading, expected to take place on Jan. 10, the board’s first meeting of 2023.
The ordinance the board approved ties supervisors’ raises to the salaries of Superior Court judges, a move that county staff favored instead of tying the raises to 60% of elected department head salaries as it was meant to “mitigate the appearance of a conflict of your Board approving raises for themselves,” according to County Administrative Officer Susan Parker’s written report in the November discussion.
However, county officials and board members have had to admit that they are still involved with setting their own salaries by taking action to set it in one way or another.
Going forward, board members will now get 38.6% of Superior Court judges salaries, which change on an annual basis — and sometimes more often due to salary adjustments — through a state calculation process.
The board’s packet contained a memo to the board with typos in the proposed amounts — stating that it would be 28%, not 38%, of Superior Court judges’ salaries as had been discussed in November — mistakes which were repeated in the draft ordinance.
Despite those errors, acknowledged by Parker, the board did not hold the matter over in order to give the public a chance to comment on the corrections made to the ordinance. A corrected version of the ordinance was later posted on the county’s website but Parker’s report was not updated and the typos remained in place afterward.
Changes to Superior Court judges’ salaries
When Parker first presented the proposal for that raise to the board at the start of November, she suggested giving the board 38.6% of the salaries of Superior Court judges, which as of July 1 totaled $229,125 annually.
The numbers she shared in November proposed a scenario that raised the annual pay for a supervisor from a base pay of $63,714 — with an additional $2,400 for the chair — to $88,483.20 annually, a 38.8%-percent increase from the current salary level, with the chair to receive an additional 5%, or $4,472.
However, since then, Superior Court judges have received a pay increase.
A Dec. 1 letter from the California Department of Human Resources, which the Judicial Council of California provided to Lake County News, stated that judicial salaries have been adjusted back to July 1 due to bargaining units receiving increases.
That adjustment raises the new annual salary for Superior Court judges by almost $2,000 dollars per year, from $229,125 to $231,174.
That means that the supervisors’ new salary will not be $88,483.20, as Parker had originally reported, but $89,233.16.
Moving from a base salary of $63,714 to $89,233.16 annually is a 40% jump for the supervisors.
The California Department of Human Resources told Lake County News that the calculation for Superior Court judges’ salaries is completed on a fiscal year basis and has not been finalized yet for 2023-24.
“Since the calculations are based on the average percentage salary increase for each fiscal year, we typically need to wait for collective bargaining to conclude to determine the applicable percentage for that fiscal year,” the agency said in a statement to Lake County News.
Supervisorial raises the latest result of class and comp study
The County Administrative Office presented the salary increase for the board in the context of its 2019 classification and compensation study.
In the fall of 2020 and 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, the board approved $21 million in raises based on that study, but had so far held off on raising its own member salaries.
The classification and compensation study showed that the Board of Supervisors’ salaries actually were 1.6% above the “base salary median” when compared to 12 other counties.
However, when asked by Lake County News about that on Dec. 20, administrative staff dismissed that comparison, saying it wasn’t “apples to apples” with other boards and that some of those other boards only showed up for meetings, unlike, they said, the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
The ordinance the board approved also states Lake County’s supervisors are now “full time.”
County staff said that they had held the matter over to make sure that funding was available.
Assistant County Administrative Officer Stephen Carter said the first payments of property tax had come through, and staff believed revenue was strong enough to support the raises.
The staff report explained, “The fiscal year 2022-23 currently has secured property taxes revenue budgeted to be $18,446,080 which means during the midyear budget staff will be requesting to increase the revenue projected by $342,170.23 that would cover the proposed increase of $165,847 for the BOS.”
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said he was all for moving forward but he cautioned the board about the action.
He wanted to tie board salaries to 60% of elected department heads’ pay, which Parker said had been the formula before the county’s implementation of the classification and compensation study.
By the numbers, the difference between the two proposals for determining board salaries would have been minor. If using the 60% of elected department heads salary calculation, it would have amounted to a 37% raise, increasing board salaries to $87,573.60.
However, Sabatier believed that option would have insulated the board from criticism. He said he was concerned about what county staff would say when supervisors get raises at times when staffers don’t because of the more changeable judicial salary basis. He raised that issue in the context of the board talking a lot about staff morale.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska responded by saying the board had discussed the pay raise several times and neither way is perfect.
Michael Green, the board’s newest member, touched on public perception and said the county has stretched the limits of the classification and compensation study.
He pointed to the board’s action to deny Behavioral Health’s request to give Denise Newman a step five placement as a substance abuse counselor, because the lower step the county was offering was more than a dollar an hour less than she’s making. The request was turned down despite the fact that staff said she would be able to bill at a rate that would cover her pay.
Green had noted during the discussion about Newman’s proposed hire that he would take a hit to the integrity of the classification and compensation study due to the need for the position and her qualifications — which included more than 20 years of experience, which staff said was more than five times the minimum qualifications as outlined in the job description.
Human Resources Director Pam Samac told the board that county staff is planning to begin new discussions about classifications in January.
The board voted 3-2 to deny the step request — Moke Simon, Pyska and Sabatier voting yes, and Green and Board Chair EJ Crandell voting no.
During the board raise discussion, Green said being a supervisor is definitely a step up in responsibility and scope of work and tying it to the judges’ salaries makes sense, as he said the board is not going to get out of the controversy.
He would offer both motions needed to approve the action, including waiving the reading of the corrected ordinance and reading it in title only, which was approved 4-1, with Sabatier voting no, and advancing the corrected ordinance for the second reading at the Jan. 10 meeting, which the board approved 5-0.
County Counsel Anita Grant said the ordinance will not go into effect until 60 days after its anticipated second passage on Jan. 10, putting its implementation date at around March 10.
While most county ordinances go into effect 30 days after passage, certain ordinances — including those involving supervisorial pay — have a 60-day period after final passage before becoming effective.
That is, if they are not challenged by a referendum.
Before the ordinance goes into effect in March, county residents who oppose the raise could stop it by submitting qualified signatures totaling 10% of the entire votes cast in Lake County for all candidates in the last gubernatorial election, which was in November.
In Lake County, votes for governor in November totaled 20,131 votes, according to the final election results provided by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office. That means, 2,013 verified signatures would be required for a referendum effort to succeed.
The last successful referendum in the unincorporated county was in 2014 in response to a marijuana cultivation ordinance passed by the board.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The raise amounts to an annual increase to the supervisors’ base salaries of more than $25,500, or an additional $2,100 a month.
The board had previously discussed the proposal in November and had voted to bring it back, at the latest, by Jan. 23.
However, it came before Christmas, on Dec. 20.
Earlier in the meeting, in a 3-2 vote, the board denied a request by the Behavioral Health Services Department to offer an advanced step request for a highly qualified senior substance abuse counselor candidate in a difficult-to-fill position, a matter raised during the board raise discussion. Human Resources staff raised questions about equity and process.
The ordinance that implements the supervisorial pay raise will require a second reading, expected to take place on Jan. 10, the board’s first meeting of 2023.
The ordinance the board approved ties supervisors’ raises to the salaries of Superior Court judges, a move that county staff favored instead of tying the raises to 60% of elected department head salaries as it was meant to “mitigate the appearance of a conflict of your Board approving raises for themselves,” according to County Administrative Officer Susan Parker’s written report in the November discussion.
However, county officials and board members have had to admit that they are still involved with setting their own salaries by taking action to set it in one way or another.
Going forward, board members will now get 38.6% of Superior Court judges salaries, which change on an annual basis — and sometimes more often due to salary adjustments — through a state calculation process.
The board’s packet contained a memo to the board with typos in the proposed amounts — stating that it would be 28%, not 38%, of Superior Court judges’ salaries as had been discussed in November — mistakes which were repeated in the draft ordinance.
Despite those errors, acknowledged by Parker, the board did not hold the matter over in order to give the public a chance to comment on the corrections made to the ordinance. A corrected version of the ordinance was later posted on the county’s website but Parker’s report was not updated and the typos remained in place afterward.
Changes to Superior Court judges’ salaries
When Parker first presented the proposal for that raise to the board at the start of November, she suggested giving the board 38.6% of the salaries of Superior Court judges, which as of July 1 totaled $229,125 annually.
The numbers she shared in November proposed a scenario that raised the annual pay for a supervisor from a base pay of $63,714 — with an additional $2,400 for the chair — to $88,483.20 annually, a 38.8%-percent increase from the current salary level, with the chair to receive an additional 5%, or $4,472.
However, since then, Superior Court judges have received a pay increase.
A Dec. 1 letter from the California Department of Human Resources, which the Judicial Council of California provided to Lake County News, stated that judicial salaries have been adjusted back to July 1 due to bargaining units receiving increases.
That adjustment raises the new annual salary for Superior Court judges by almost $2,000 dollars per year, from $229,125 to $231,174.
That means that the supervisors’ new salary will not be $88,483.20, as Parker had originally reported, but $89,233.16.
Moving from a base salary of $63,714 to $89,233.16 annually is a 40% jump for the supervisors.
The California Department of Human Resources told Lake County News that the calculation for Superior Court judges’ salaries is completed on a fiscal year basis and has not been finalized yet for 2023-24.
“Since the calculations are based on the average percentage salary increase for each fiscal year, we typically need to wait for collective bargaining to conclude to determine the applicable percentage for that fiscal year,” the agency said in a statement to Lake County News.
Supervisorial raises the latest result of class and comp study
The County Administrative Office presented the salary increase for the board in the context of its 2019 classification and compensation study.
In the fall of 2020 and 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, the board approved $21 million in raises based on that study, but had so far held off on raising its own member salaries.
The classification and compensation study showed that the Board of Supervisors’ salaries actually were 1.6% above the “base salary median” when compared to 12 other counties.
However, when asked by Lake County News about that on Dec. 20, administrative staff dismissed that comparison, saying it wasn’t “apples to apples” with other boards and that some of those other boards only showed up for meetings, unlike, they said, the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
The ordinance the board approved also states Lake County’s supervisors are now “full time.”
County staff said that they had held the matter over to make sure that funding was available.
Assistant County Administrative Officer Stephen Carter said the first payments of property tax had come through, and staff believed revenue was strong enough to support the raises.
The staff report explained, “The fiscal year 2022-23 currently has secured property taxes revenue budgeted to be $18,446,080 which means during the midyear budget staff will be requesting to increase the revenue projected by $342,170.23 that would cover the proposed increase of $165,847 for the BOS.”
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said he was all for moving forward but he cautioned the board about the action.
He wanted to tie board salaries to 60% of elected department heads’ pay, which Parker said had been the formula before the county’s implementation of the classification and compensation study.
By the numbers, the difference between the two proposals for determining board salaries would have been minor. If using the 60% of elected department heads salary calculation, it would have amounted to a 37% raise, increasing board salaries to $87,573.60.
However, Sabatier believed that option would have insulated the board from criticism. He said he was concerned about what county staff would say when supervisors get raises at times when staffers don’t because of the more changeable judicial salary basis. He raised that issue in the context of the board talking a lot about staff morale.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska responded by saying the board had discussed the pay raise several times and neither way is perfect.
Michael Green, the board’s newest member, touched on public perception and said the county has stretched the limits of the classification and compensation study.
He pointed to the board’s action to deny Behavioral Health’s request to give Denise Newman a step five placement as a substance abuse counselor, because the lower step the county was offering was more than a dollar an hour less than she’s making. The request was turned down despite the fact that staff said she would be able to bill at a rate that would cover her pay.
Green had noted during the discussion about Newman’s proposed hire that he would take a hit to the integrity of the classification and compensation study due to the need for the position and her qualifications — which included more than 20 years of experience, which staff said was more than five times the minimum qualifications as outlined in the job description.
Human Resources Director Pam Samac told the board that county staff is planning to begin new discussions about classifications in January.
The board voted 3-2 to deny the step request — Moke Simon, Pyska and Sabatier voting yes, and Green and Board Chair EJ Crandell voting no.
During the board raise discussion, Green said being a supervisor is definitely a step up in responsibility and scope of work and tying it to the judges’ salaries makes sense, as he said the board is not going to get out of the controversy.
He would offer both motions needed to approve the action, including waiving the reading of the corrected ordinance and reading it in title only, which was approved 4-1, with Sabatier voting no, and advancing the corrected ordinance for the second reading at the Jan. 10 meeting, which the board approved 5-0.
County Counsel Anita Grant said the ordinance will not go into effect until 60 days after its anticipated second passage on Jan. 10, putting its implementation date at around March 10.
While most county ordinances go into effect 30 days after passage, certain ordinances — including those involving supervisorial pay — have a 60-day period after final passage before becoming effective.
That is, if they are not challenged by a referendum.
Before the ordinance goes into effect in March, county residents who oppose the raise could stop it by submitting qualified signatures totaling 10% of the entire votes cast in Lake County for all candidates in the last gubernatorial election, which was in November.
In Lake County, votes for governor in November totaled 20,131 votes, according to the final election results provided by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office. That means, 2,013 verified signatures would be required for a referendum effort to succeed.
The last successful referendum in the unincorporated county was in 2014 in response to a marijuana cultivation ordinance passed by the board.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — With showers forecast through this week and next, the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for parts of Northern California, including Lake County.
The flood watch will be in effect from 4 p.m. Thursday through 4 p.m. Saturday.
The National Weather Service said another round of rain is expected to bring an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain to low elevation locations with total amounts approaching 7 inches at higher elevations over the coming week.
Forecasters said already saturated soils will increase the risk of flooding as a result.
The forecast also calls for a potential break in the rain on Sunday, followed by “a pattern
conducive to atmospheric rivers” that will continue from the middle to late next week.
The specific Lake County forecast is predicting the potential for nearly 8 inches of rain from Thursday through Saturday.
Sunday, New Year’s Day, is predicted to have patchy fog in the morning, followed by sunny conditions and no rain during the day, with temperatures in the low 50s. Sunday night is forecast to be mostly cloudy with a temperature low in the high 30s.
Showers are then forecast to return from Monday through Wednesday.
Temperatures during the day will hover in the high 40s to low 50s through next week, with nighttime temperatures ranging from the high 30s to low 40s.
From Thursday through Saturday, winds of up to 11 miles per hour also are anticipated.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The flood watch will be in effect from 4 p.m. Thursday through 4 p.m. Saturday.
The National Weather Service said another round of rain is expected to bring an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain to low elevation locations with total amounts approaching 7 inches at higher elevations over the coming week.
Forecasters said already saturated soils will increase the risk of flooding as a result.
The forecast also calls for a potential break in the rain on Sunday, followed by “a pattern
conducive to atmospheric rivers” that will continue from the middle to late next week.
The specific Lake County forecast is predicting the potential for nearly 8 inches of rain from Thursday through Saturday.
Sunday, New Year’s Day, is predicted to have patchy fog in the morning, followed by sunny conditions and no rain during the day, with temperatures in the low 50s. Sunday night is forecast to be mostly cloudy with a temperature low in the high 30s.
Showers are then forecast to return from Monday through Wednesday.
Temperatures during the day will hover in the high 40s to low 50s through next week, with nighttime temperatures ranging from the high 30s to low 40s.
From Thursday through Saturday, winds of up to 11 miles per hour also are anticipated.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, Californians will benefit from newly created consumer protections as 11 new state laws sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara this past legislative session take effect.
The new laws address climate change, expand health access and reproductive care, preserve health protections, protect against fraud and ensure public safety.
“Protecting consumers is my number one priority,” said Commissioner Lara. “Partnership with the Legislature and Gov. Newsom is essential to my Department’s mission of bringing fairness for all in our oversight of the nation’s largest insurance market. I look forward to putting these eleven new laws into effect while taking further actions that benefit California consumers.”
New laws that start taking effect on January 1, 2023 include:
AB 2238, jointly authored by Assemblymembers Luz Rivas, Eduardo Garcia, and former Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, directs the creation of a statewide extreme heat advance warning and ranking system based on climate and health impact information by the California Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the Department of Insurance and the Integrated Climate Adaption and Resiliency program in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. This would be the nation’s first-ever extreme heat wave ranking system when it is finalized by January 1, 2025.
SB 852, authored by Senator Bill Dodd, authorizes the creation of Climate Resilience Districts statewide to help communities mitigate risk in advance of a disaster and promote recovery, a recommendation from the Department of Insurance’s first-ever climate insurance report that would improve access to insurance for all, so that we can better prepare ourselves from increasing climate change-related threats. CivicWell was also a co-sponsor to this measure.
AB 2134, jointly authored by Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber and former Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, establishes the “Reproductive Health Equity Program” to make available grants to providers who offer reproductive and sexual health care free of cost to patients with low incomes and those who lack health care coverage for reproductive health services, including consumers who come to California from other states that have decreased access to abortion care services. The grants afforded under AB 2134 are in addition to $40 million appropriated in the enacted 2022-23 State Budget to help cover these important health care services. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, NARAL Pro-Choice of California, Access Reproductive Justice, Essential Access Health, and the National Health Law Program were also co-sponsors to this measure.
AB 1823, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, aligns the definition of student blanket policies that are purchased by colleges and universities with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). This alignment is necessary to ensure state regulatory oversight and that consumer protections under the ACA are also applicable to these student health policies sold through a university or college to their enrolled students, including Dreamers and refugee students.
AB 2127, authored by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, is an important follow-up measure to Commissioner Lara’s previously sponsored “Parent Healthcare Act” last year, that would clarify and strengthen notice requirements for Medicare-eligible older adults who are seeking to be added as dependents to their adult child’s individual health insurance policy or health care service plan contract.
AB 2568, authored by former Assemblymember Ken Cooley, creates a ”safe harbor” by stating that an individual or firm providing insurance or related services to a state legal cannabis business does not commit a crime under California law solely for providing that insurance or related service.
SB 972, authored by Senator Lena Gonzalez, brings thousands of entrepreneurial sidewalk food vendors into a more equitable and well-regulated food economy by updating the “Safe Sidewalk Vending Act,” which Commissioner Lara authored in 2018 as a member of the California State Senate to end the criminalization of sidewalk vending. Inclusive Action for the City, Public Counsel, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the Community Power Collective, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty – all part of the California Street Vendor Campaign – were also co-sponsors to this measure.
SB 1040, authored by Senator Susan Rubio, authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to order restitution from persons who sell insurance without the necessary license from the Department of Insurance, including “extended vehicle warranties” sold illegally through robocalls and misappropriation of consumers’ and businesses’ premiums, among other insurance scams.
SB 1242, authored by the Senate Committee on Insurance, bolsters anti-insurance fraud efforts essential to protecting consumers from unnecessary economic loss by further clarifying agent-broker anti-fraud education requirements as well as the process by which alleged fraud is reported to the Department of Insurance, in addition to other consumer protection proposals.
New laws that start taking effect in July 2023 include:
AB 2205, authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, requires health insurers and health plans offering coverage through Covered California to report annually to the Department of Insurance and the Department of Managed Health Care the total amount of abortion funds. This new law will require transparency and disclosure from health carriers to regulators regarding the amount of separate abortion premium payments that are being collected from policyholders and distributed as claims. As we consider options available for payment of abortion services, this new law will help regulators and policymakers identify available funds to support abortion patients in California. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the National Health Law Program were also co-sponsors of this measure.
AB 2043, authored by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer Sr., requires all bail fugitive recovery agents, commonly known as “bounty hunters,” to be licensed by the Department of Insurance to ensure that appropriate education and training requirements are met prior to licensure and that all applicants successfully pass fingerprint-based background checks, obtain an appointment from a licensed bail agent or surety insurer, and maintain a minimum $1 million liability insurance policy so that harmed consumers have an avenue to collect damages.
In addition to these new laws, in October, Commissioner Lara enforced the nation’s first wildfire safety regulation to help drive down the cost of insurance for Californians at risk of wildfires, further protecting vulnerable consumers across the state. Commissioner Lara’s regulation is the first in the nation requiring insurance companies to provide discounts to consumers under the Safer from Wildfires framework created by the Department of Insurance in partnership with state emergency preparedness agencies.
The regulation is now state law and enshrined in the California Code of Regulations. Under the new regulation, insurance companies are required to make new rate filings including wildfire safety discounts and comply with new transparency measures starting in April 2023.
The new laws address climate change, expand health access and reproductive care, preserve health protections, protect against fraud and ensure public safety.
“Protecting consumers is my number one priority,” said Commissioner Lara. “Partnership with the Legislature and Gov. Newsom is essential to my Department’s mission of bringing fairness for all in our oversight of the nation’s largest insurance market. I look forward to putting these eleven new laws into effect while taking further actions that benefit California consumers.”
New laws that start taking effect on January 1, 2023 include:
AB 2238, jointly authored by Assemblymembers Luz Rivas, Eduardo Garcia, and former Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, directs the creation of a statewide extreme heat advance warning and ranking system based on climate and health impact information by the California Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the Department of Insurance and the Integrated Climate Adaption and Resiliency program in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. This would be the nation’s first-ever extreme heat wave ranking system when it is finalized by January 1, 2025.
SB 852, authored by Senator Bill Dodd, authorizes the creation of Climate Resilience Districts statewide to help communities mitigate risk in advance of a disaster and promote recovery, a recommendation from the Department of Insurance’s first-ever climate insurance report that would improve access to insurance for all, so that we can better prepare ourselves from increasing climate change-related threats. CivicWell was also a co-sponsor to this measure.
AB 2134, jointly authored by Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber and former Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, establishes the “Reproductive Health Equity Program” to make available grants to providers who offer reproductive and sexual health care free of cost to patients with low incomes and those who lack health care coverage for reproductive health services, including consumers who come to California from other states that have decreased access to abortion care services. The grants afforded under AB 2134 are in addition to $40 million appropriated in the enacted 2022-23 State Budget to help cover these important health care services. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, NARAL Pro-Choice of California, Access Reproductive Justice, Essential Access Health, and the National Health Law Program were also co-sponsors to this measure.
AB 1823, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, aligns the definition of student blanket policies that are purchased by colleges and universities with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). This alignment is necessary to ensure state regulatory oversight and that consumer protections under the ACA are also applicable to these student health policies sold through a university or college to their enrolled students, including Dreamers and refugee students.
AB 2127, authored by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, is an important follow-up measure to Commissioner Lara’s previously sponsored “Parent Healthcare Act” last year, that would clarify and strengthen notice requirements for Medicare-eligible older adults who are seeking to be added as dependents to their adult child’s individual health insurance policy or health care service plan contract.
AB 2568, authored by former Assemblymember Ken Cooley, creates a ”safe harbor” by stating that an individual or firm providing insurance or related services to a state legal cannabis business does not commit a crime under California law solely for providing that insurance or related service.
SB 972, authored by Senator Lena Gonzalez, brings thousands of entrepreneurial sidewalk food vendors into a more equitable and well-regulated food economy by updating the “Safe Sidewalk Vending Act,” which Commissioner Lara authored in 2018 as a member of the California State Senate to end the criminalization of sidewalk vending. Inclusive Action for the City, Public Counsel, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, the Community Power Collective, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty – all part of the California Street Vendor Campaign – were also co-sponsors to this measure.
SB 1040, authored by Senator Susan Rubio, authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to order restitution from persons who sell insurance without the necessary license from the Department of Insurance, including “extended vehicle warranties” sold illegally through robocalls and misappropriation of consumers’ and businesses’ premiums, among other insurance scams.
SB 1242, authored by the Senate Committee on Insurance, bolsters anti-insurance fraud efforts essential to protecting consumers from unnecessary economic loss by further clarifying agent-broker anti-fraud education requirements as well as the process by which alleged fraud is reported to the Department of Insurance, in addition to other consumer protection proposals.
New laws that start taking effect in July 2023 include:
AB 2205, authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, requires health insurers and health plans offering coverage through Covered California to report annually to the Department of Insurance and the Department of Managed Health Care the total amount of abortion funds. This new law will require transparency and disclosure from health carriers to regulators regarding the amount of separate abortion premium payments that are being collected from policyholders and distributed as claims. As we consider options available for payment of abortion services, this new law will help regulators and policymakers identify available funds to support abortion patients in California. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the National Health Law Program were also co-sponsors of this measure.
AB 2043, authored by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer Sr., requires all bail fugitive recovery agents, commonly known as “bounty hunters,” to be licensed by the Department of Insurance to ensure that appropriate education and training requirements are met prior to licensure and that all applicants successfully pass fingerprint-based background checks, obtain an appointment from a licensed bail agent or surety insurer, and maintain a minimum $1 million liability insurance policy so that harmed consumers have an avenue to collect damages.
In addition to these new laws, in October, Commissioner Lara enforced the nation’s first wildfire safety regulation to help drive down the cost of insurance for Californians at risk of wildfires, further protecting vulnerable consumers across the state. Commissioner Lara’s regulation is the first in the nation requiring insurance companies to provide discounts to consumers under the Safer from Wildfires framework created by the Department of Insurance in partnership with state emergency preparedness agencies.
The regulation is now state law and enshrined in the California Code of Regulations. Under the new regulation, insurance companies are required to make new rate filings including wildfire safety discounts and comply with new transparency measures starting in April 2023.
Everyone knows that sleep is critical for growing children and their mental and physical health. Regular, high-quality sleep habits help children consolidate memory and learn better. A lack of sleep contributes to childhood depression, anxiety and even risk of suicide, along with physical health problems, including risk of injury. The challenge is making sure kids log those valuable zzz’s.
There are three main components of high-quality sleep for children. First, they need enough total hours – sleep duration. Sleep quality is important, too – sleeping soundly during the night with few disruptions or awakenings. And, finally, there’s sleep timing – essentially, a consistent schedule, with bedtime and risetime about the same across the whole week.
Even when you know how important good sleep is, it’s easy for sleep duration, quality and timing to get knocked off track. It can happen for infrequent reasons, such as the pleasant chaos of a holiday, or the disturbances that accompany pandemic life. Healthy sleep habits are hard to maintain for everyday mundane reasons, too, such as parent-child disagreement, busy schedules and older children’s leisurely weekend behavior. But there are ways for families to get sleep back on course.
As a child development researcher and family therapist, I study parenting and family behaviors that create healthy environments for children’s sleep patterns. In particular, I help parents to develop consistent and nurturing routines. Sleep patterns are set early, and parents play an important role in nurturing children’s perspectives and attitudes. Here’s the overarching advice I share with families, no matter the age of their kids.
1. Set and model family values about sleep
Children are observant learners. They pay very careful attention to both the spoken and unspoken rules of their clan.
To get everyone in the household sleeping well, sleep can’t be something that only children must care about, while adults who have freedom and power joke about their own unhealthy habits. If sleep seems like punishment, rather than the gift for health that it is, children will be likely to resist it.
Adults need to talk the talk and walk the walk that sleep is a priority for everyone in the family. Be a role model. If you’ve fallen into a habit of binge-watching TV into the wee hours, for instance, work on reining that in. Use positive language about your own sleep. Pay attention to what you say, and what you communicate through your own habits, reinforcing that it’s important to the whole family to get sleep and have energy for the next day. Don’t make the mistake of discussing bedtime as a chance for adults to get distance from the kids.
2. Know your child
Remember, every kid is unique, so don’t expect one-size-fits-all sleep advice to work universally. A child’s temperament plays a significant role in the duration, quality and timing of their sleep. For instance, a feistier child may not adapt as quickly to a sleep schedule over the first year. And temperament is a pretty stable part of who your child is and will continue to be.
A parent’s job is to keep encouraging routines and setting limits – but with ongoing warmth and sensitivity about the characteristics of the one-of-a-kind child you have.
When you’re exhausted and struggling with a child’s behavior, it can be hard to stay positive. My recommendation is to use the daytime hours wisely as investment in your relationship. Be proactive about noticing the good in your kid. Remind yourself that your child is their own person, learning in lots of ways throughout the day, and that child development is a marathon, not a sprint, for positive change. Sleep regressions or other sleep difficulties, like night awakening or changes in sleep habits, are opportunities for growth, not punishment.
By laying this groundwork, it becomes easier to tap into a positive and respectful attitude during times of stress. Remind yourself that change over time is more important than control over a given moment. After all, strained parent-child relationships can actually lead to continuing sleep and behavioral problems in young children.
3. Aim for consistency, with some flexibility
In my practice, I see two common – but opposite – mistakes that parents make around sleep.
First, many parents let go of rules and boundaries altogether. Often this happens as a result of what children bring to the equation: personal temperament or age-related phenomena. For instance, the peak in behavioral aggression that can come in toddlerhood or the shift in sleep timing that comes in adolescence can cause some parents to just throw in the towel and give up.
Alternatively, other parents become rigid. They see conflict around sleep as a struggle for power that the adult must win.
I argue that balance is key. Parents should adopt a consistent approach that fits with the sleep values they’ve been clear about all along. But they must also remain flexible to help children adapt routines to their own unique needs.
For example, all children at all ages should have a regular bedtime and risetime. However, parents may be open to a collaborative plan with older children about what those times should be, or attending to patterns and cues from younger children, working on a reasonable compromise that takes into account the needs of the individual child. Parents’ message about the importance of sleep should never waiver.
4. Manage household issues that influence sleep
Research shows that certain problems outside the bedroom create immediate and long-term risk for children’s sleep quality. These include exposure to second-hand smoke, excessive or evening-timed blue light exposure from screens and conflict in the home. Dealing with these factors will likely pay dividends when it comes to your kids getting a good night’s sleep.
Good sleep hygiene is a family affair. It’s never too late to nudge habits in a good direction and recommit to everyone getting the rest they need. Your child’s sleep habits can be a critical building block of lifelong wellness.
Erika Bocknek, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Wayne State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In order to meet state and federal policies, Lake County’s law enforcement agencies are in various states of transition to new radio equipment that allows for encryption.
It’s a move that California’s law enforcement agencies — estimated at about 500 — are faced with making, although based on information from the State Legislature only about a quarter of those have moved to the new and expensive radio systems.
Press and First Amendment organizations have pushed back, although bills introduced in the State Legislature that would have altered or turned back the project have failed to advance.
Encryption is a process of modifying radio traffic in order to enable it to become secure. A typical police scanner would not be able to pick up or monitor encrypted radio traffic.
However, the new rules will not impact fire or other emergency traffic, and since the changes have gone into effect, much of Lake County’s scanner traffic has remained available on traditional scanners, both on and offline.
The encryption requirements come from the California Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy.
The California Attorney General’s Office, which includes the Department of Justice, told Lake County News that it is not directly monitoring the hundreds of law enforcement agencies operating across the state with regards to meeting this requirement, and that it’s up to those agencies to comply.
The Clearlake Police Department has already completed the transition, with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Lakeport Police Department in the process.
The California Attorney General’s Office issued an information bulletin October 2020 to all agencies that subscribe to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, explaining the rules regarding radio transmission of protected data.
In that bulletin, California Justice Information Services Division Chief Joe Dominic said all law enforcement and criminal justice agencies subscribing to CLETS, must adhere to CLETS policies, procedures and practices and the FBI’s CJIS in order to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the data.
Dominic said access to certain criminal justice information and personally identifiable information must be limited to authorized personnel, and the transmission of that information must be encrypted.
He referred to the CLETS Policies, Practices and Procedures regulations, which say that any information from CLETS is confidential and for official use only. “Access is defined as the ability to hear or view any information provided through the CLETS.”
The personally identifiable information the state’s directives apply to include “information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as an individual’s first name, or first initial, and last name in combination with any one or more specific data elements, such as Social security number, passport number, military ID number, and any other unique ID numbers issued on a government document.
“The most common data elements encountered during field operations include a driver's license number or ID number,” the bulletin said.
The Attorney General’s Office said compliance with the requirements was possible through two options: encryption of radio traffic or establishing policies to restrict dissemination of specific information to protect restricted database information and combinations of named and data elements that meet the definition of personally identifiable information.
Agencies approach the move
Not all agencies are being required to go to encryption.
“Since the California Highway Patrol (CHP) uses low-band radios for communication, and that technology is older and does not support digital encryption, the CHP has no plans on this topic,” CHP spokesperson Jaime Coffee told Lake County News. Coffee has since left the CHP.
An October 2020 CHP memo updated departmental policy and procedures for the use of unencrypted radio channels related to the protection of Criminal Justice Information obtained from the Criminal Justice Information System databases and Personally Identifiable Information.
That memo included directions to use computers, tablets or terminals to perform records checks whenever possible; only enough information to complete the request should be given over the radio in a single continuous transmission, with further information sent over computers or tablets; limiting of address information on the air; providing address, date of birth and physical descriptors over the air only when requested; and providing only enough information to
broadcast to aid in identifying and/or locating a potential suspect when an officer or the public safety are in jeopardy.
That memo also noted that the CHP does not allow Criminal History System or Criminal Offender Record Information to be transmitted over the radio. “Dispatch and field personnel shall continue to follow procedures outlined in Highway Patrol Manual (HPM).”
In Lake County, the Clearlake Police Department led off the encryption conversion effort.
Andrew White, Clearlake Police’s chief who left for Martinez earlier this month, said in an interview before his departure that Clearlake Police went live with encryption at the end of September 2021.
He estimated that the department’s overall radio infrastructure and upgrades cost a total of about $150,000, with that amount including the process of getting radios compliant with the encryption technology at about $75,000. Repeater upgrades had already been completed.
“We were replacing radios already,” he said, explaining they were able to leverage the work they already were doing so that they were able to turn on encryption with relatively minimal effort. He said the equipment includes standard Motorola radios.
Radio traffic is encrypted one way, from dispatch, in accordance with the requirements of the California Department of Justice and FBI’s CJIS Security Policy, White said.
He explained that the encryption is to safeguard sensitive information, including personal identifying information, or PII, that originates from the various local, state and federal law enforcement databases.
“While numerous regulations have been implemented to safeguard PII held in databases by public and private entities, it has flowed rather freely across unencrypted law enforcement radio,” he said.
“The implementation of encryption is not a simple feat, especially in rural areas like Lake County with challenging topography and where existing radio systems were analog systems, not capable of supporting encryption. Additionally, implementing encryption creates new challenges for radio interoperability with mutual aid agencies,” White explained.
He added, “Locally, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Clearlake Police Department and Lakeport Police Department have closely coordinated the roll out of encryption for law enforcement in Lake County to ensure seamless communication between all agencies, including consideration of communication with fire agencies. The use of encryption does present challenges for real-time monitoring particularly by journalists who are often the first to share breaking news impacting public safety.”
White said there are no plans for encryption of fire department radio traffic. “Given that major incidents often involve a dual response of police and fire, it is not anticipated that the encryption will severely hamper public awareness that would have otherwise been obtainable via listening to the police radio via a scanner.”
At the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Gavin Wells said the agency has finalized installing the encryption enabled radios in its patrol vehicles in accordance with the requirements of the California Department of Justice and FBI’s CJIS Security Policy.
“At this time the cost of the encryption project is roughly $300,000,” Wells said.
Wells said that work for patrol radios, as well as portable radios, was completed in 2020 and 2021.
The sheriff’s office will not be encrypting its primary traffic like Clearlake Police has, only information from CLETS and CJAS, Wells said.
Wells said another aspect of the project is upgrading the agency’s mountain top repeater sites and the radios in Central Dispatch to be able to function in analog mode or digital mode with encryption and to install new dispatch radios that are encryption enabled.
He didn’t have an estimated time frame for the completion of the work on the repeater due to the complexity of the project and working with outside vendors and their time frames. Wells confirmed this week that the work is still underway.
He said the county of Lake has a contract with the county of Mendocino for tech services and repeater installation. The radios on all of the repeaters are now being replaced so that they are the same.
There are five Lake County Sheriff’s Office repeaters for the primary radio channel, Wells said.
A sixth repeater is in the build out process but it won’t initially be capable of encryption use, but will instead be used for the Mendocino National Forest area, he said.
Wells said there also is an additional repeater for the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol.
Outside of those law enforcement repeaters, Wells said the sheriff’s office maintains four repeaters as part of the RedNet fire channel.
Dispatch also is being upgraded. “That is going to be the last piece of the puzzle,” Wells said.
He said they have the equipment and are waiting to install it, but that it needs to integrate into the dispatch radio console.
The Lakeport Police Department also is working to make its transition to encryption equipment.
At its Oct. 5, 2021, meeting, the Lakeport City Council unanimously approved spending $320,000 to purchase encrypted radios for the police and public works departments. Of that amount, $200,000 goes to police and $120,000 to public works.
By August, Rasmussen said the Lakeport Police Department had completed 90% of the installation of the vehicle and base station radios and had started to use the portable radios but had not fully transitioned.
Rasmussen said the equipment being used so far is not yet encrypted. “That will not happen until the county is fully ready for that,” he said, referring to the repeater upgrades Wells had noted are still underway.
“Our new radios are great so far and have many more advanced features than the old,” Rasmussen said.
Legislation responds to rules but fails to advance
For decades, police and fire scanner traffic have been an important source for journalists and community members in following emergencies and crime response.
Radio encryption has raised legal and transparency issues for a number of organizations dedicated to protecting the First Amendment and representing journalists.
White said some early adopter agencies of encryption allowed access to encrypted communications by journalists, but DOJ regulations were determined to preclude that practice.
In February 2019, Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) AB 1555 was introduced to provide access to encrypted law enforcement radio communications to a duly authorized representative of any news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network, upon request.”
The bill received support from groups like the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, but law enforcement organizations opposed it.
As a result, two months after its introduction, Gloria pulled the bill, saying it required more work, according to news reports.
Then, in February, Sen. Josh Becker, whose 13th Senate District comprises most of San Mateo County and the northern part of Santa Clara County, introduced SB 1000, regarding radio communications.
The Legislative Counsel’s Digest said Becker’s bill would have required a law enforcement agency, including the California Highway Patrol, municipal police departments, county sheriff’s departments, specified local law enforcement agencies, and specified university and college police departments, to ensure public access to the radio communications no later than Jan. 1, 2024.
“This bill would also require those law enforcement agencies to ensure that any criminal justice information or personally identifiable information obtained through CLETS is not broadcast in a manner that is accessible to the public, as specified,” the digest said.
The bill was making its way through the Legislature although it was hitting headwinds due to law enforcement agencies’ concerns about impacts, including costs.
It was sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it was held in committee and under submission on Aug. 11. That meant it wouldn’t advance.
Becker said in a tweet after the hearing that the Legislation “missed a chance to ensure police transparency & accountability. Without this fix, many agencies will continue to encrypt vital radio communications, cutting off almost 90 yrs of public & press access to critical public safety info. I’ll continue to fight to restore access.”
He also urged law enforcement to follow the model used by other agencies, including the CHP, to use alternatives to full encryption.
“Even if it had become law we really had no concerns as our original plan, before the bill ever became a possibility, was to use them the way the bill proposed — that is not everything would have been encrypted. I know the plans have varied by agency throughout the state,” Rasmussen said of the bill.
So far, there’s been no word about plans for new legislation to be introduced regarding encryption.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
It’s a move that California’s law enforcement agencies — estimated at about 500 — are faced with making, although based on information from the State Legislature only about a quarter of those have moved to the new and expensive radio systems.
Press and First Amendment organizations have pushed back, although bills introduced in the State Legislature that would have altered or turned back the project have failed to advance.
Encryption is a process of modifying radio traffic in order to enable it to become secure. A typical police scanner would not be able to pick up or monitor encrypted radio traffic.
However, the new rules will not impact fire or other emergency traffic, and since the changes have gone into effect, much of Lake County’s scanner traffic has remained available on traditional scanners, both on and offline.
The encryption requirements come from the California Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy.
The California Attorney General’s Office, which includes the Department of Justice, told Lake County News that it is not directly monitoring the hundreds of law enforcement agencies operating across the state with regards to meeting this requirement, and that it’s up to those agencies to comply.
The Clearlake Police Department has already completed the transition, with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Lakeport Police Department in the process.
The California Attorney General’s Office issued an information bulletin October 2020 to all agencies that subscribe to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, explaining the rules regarding radio transmission of protected data.
In that bulletin, California Justice Information Services Division Chief Joe Dominic said all law enforcement and criminal justice agencies subscribing to CLETS, must adhere to CLETS policies, procedures and practices and the FBI’s CJIS in order to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the data.
Dominic said access to certain criminal justice information and personally identifiable information must be limited to authorized personnel, and the transmission of that information must be encrypted.
He referred to the CLETS Policies, Practices and Procedures regulations, which say that any information from CLETS is confidential and for official use only. “Access is defined as the ability to hear or view any information provided through the CLETS.”
The personally identifiable information the state’s directives apply to include “information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as an individual’s first name, or first initial, and last name in combination with any one or more specific data elements, such as Social security number, passport number, military ID number, and any other unique ID numbers issued on a government document.
“The most common data elements encountered during field operations include a driver's license number or ID number,” the bulletin said.
The Attorney General’s Office said compliance with the requirements was possible through two options: encryption of radio traffic or establishing policies to restrict dissemination of specific information to protect restricted database information and combinations of named and data elements that meet the definition of personally identifiable information.
Agencies approach the move
Not all agencies are being required to go to encryption.
“Since the California Highway Patrol (CHP) uses low-band radios for communication, and that technology is older and does not support digital encryption, the CHP has no plans on this topic,” CHP spokesperson Jaime Coffee told Lake County News. Coffee has since left the CHP.
An October 2020 CHP memo updated departmental policy and procedures for the use of unencrypted radio channels related to the protection of Criminal Justice Information obtained from the Criminal Justice Information System databases and Personally Identifiable Information.
That memo included directions to use computers, tablets or terminals to perform records checks whenever possible; only enough information to complete the request should be given over the radio in a single continuous transmission, with further information sent over computers or tablets; limiting of address information on the air; providing address, date of birth and physical descriptors over the air only when requested; and providing only enough information to
broadcast to aid in identifying and/or locating a potential suspect when an officer or the public safety are in jeopardy.
That memo also noted that the CHP does not allow Criminal History System or Criminal Offender Record Information to be transmitted over the radio. “Dispatch and field personnel shall continue to follow procedures outlined in Highway Patrol Manual (HPM).”
In Lake County, the Clearlake Police Department led off the encryption conversion effort.
Andrew White, Clearlake Police’s chief who left for Martinez earlier this month, said in an interview before his departure that Clearlake Police went live with encryption at the end of September 2021.
He estimated that the department’s overall radio infrastructure and upgrades cost a total of about $150,000, with that amount including the process of getting radios compliant with the encryption technology at about $75,000. Repeater upgrades had already been completed.
“We were replacing radios already,” he said, explaining they were able to leverage the work they already were doing so that they were able to turn on encryption with relatively minimal effort. He said the equipment includes standard Motorola radios.
Radio traffic is encrypted one way, from dispatch, in accordance with the requirements of the California Department of Justice and FBI’s CJIS Security Policy, White said.
He explained that the encryption is to safeguard sensitive information, including personal identifying information, or PII, that originates from the various local, state and federal law enforcement databases.
“While numerous regulations have been implemented to safeguard PII held in databases by public and private entities, it has flowed rather freely across unencrypted law enforcement radio,” he said.
“The implementation of encryption is not a simple feat, especially in rural areas like Lake County with challenging topography and where existing radio systems were analog systems, not capable of supporting encryption. Additionally, implementing encryption creates new challenges for radio interoperability with mutual aid agencies,” White explained.
He added, “Locally, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Clearlake Police Department and Lakeport Police Department have closely coordinated the roll out of encryption for law enforcement in Lake County to ensure seamless communication between all agencies, including consideration of communication with fire agencies. The use of encryption does present challenges for real-time monitoring particularly by journalists who are often the first to share breaking news impacting public safety.”
White said there are no plans for encryption of fire department radio traffic. “Given that major incidents often involve a dual response of police and fire, it is not anticipated that the encryption will severely hamper public awareness that would have otherwise been obtainable via listening to the police radio via a scanner.”
At the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Gavin Wells said the agency has finalized installing the encryption enabled radios in its patrol vehicles in accordance with the requirements of the California Department of Justice and FBI’s CJIS Security Policy.
“At this time the cost of the encryption project is roughly $300,000,” Wells said.
Wells said that work for patrol radios, as well as portable radios, was completed in 2020 and 2021.
The sheriff’s office will not be encrypting its primary traffic like Clearlake Police has, only information from CLETS and CJAS, Wells said.
Wells said another aspect of the project is upgrading the agency’s mountain top repeater sites and the radios in Central Dispatch to be able to function in analog mode or digital mode with encryption and to install new dispatch radios that are encryption enabled.
He didn’t have an estimated time frame for the completion of the work on the repeater due to the complexity of the project and working with outside vendors and their time frames. Wells confirmed this week that the work is still underway.
He said the county of Lake has a contract with the county of Mendocino for tech services and repeater installation. The radios on all of the repeaters are now being replaced so that they are the same.
There are five Lake County Sheriff’s Office repeaters for the primary radio channel, Wells said.
A sixth repeater is in the build out process but it won’t initially be capable of encryption use, but will instead be used for the Mendocino National Forest area, he said.
Wells said there also is an additional repeater for the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol.
Outside of those law enforcement repeaters, Wells said the sheriff’s office maintains four repeaters as part of the RedNet fire channel.
Dispatch also is being upgraded. “That is going to be the last piece of the puzzle,” Wells said.
He said they have the equipment and are waiting to install it, but that it needs to integrate into the dispatch radio console.
The Lakeport Police Department also is working to make its transition to encryption equipment.
At its Oct. 5, 2021, meeting, the Lakeport City Council unanimously approved spending $320,000 to purchase encrypted radios for the police and public works departments. Of that amount, $200,000 goes to police and $120,000 to public works.
By August, Rasmussen said the Lakeport Police Department had completed 90% of the installation of the vehicle and base station radios and had started to use the portable radios but had not fully transitioned.
Rasmussen said the equipment being used so far is not yet encrypted. “That will not happen until the county is fully ready for that,” he said, referring to the repeater upgrades Wells had noted are still underway.
“Our new radios are great so far and have many more advanced features than the old,” Rasmussen said.
Legislation responds to rules but fails to advance
For decades, police and fire scanner traffic have been an important source for journalists and community members in following emergencies and crime response.
Radio encryption has raised legal and transparency issues for a number of organizations dedicated to protecting the First Amendment and representing journalists.
White said some early adopter agencies of encryption allowed access to encrypted communications by journalists, but DOJ regulations were determined to preclude that practice.
In February 2019, Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) AB 1555 was introduced to provide access to encrypted law enforcement radio communications to a duly authorized representative of any news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network, upon request.”
The bill received support from groups like the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, but law enforcement organizations opposed it.
As a result, two months after its introduction, Gloria pulled the bill, saying it required more work, according to news reports.
Then, in February, Sen. Josh Becker, whose 13th Senate District comprises most of San Mateo County and the northern part of Santa Clara County, introduced SB 1000, regarding radio communications.
The Legislative Counsel’s Digest said Becker’s bill would have required a law enforcement agency, including the California Highway Patrol, municipal police departments, county sheriff’s departments, specified local law enforcement agencies, and specified university and college police departments, to ensure public access to the radio communications no later than Jan. 1, 2024.
“This bill would also require those law enforcement agencies to ensure that any criminal justice information or personally identifiable information obtained through CLETS is not broadcast in a manner that is accessible to the public, as specified,” the digest said.
The bill was making its way through the Legislature although it was hitting headwinds due to law enforcement agencies’ concerns about impacts, including costs.
It was sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it was held in committee and under submission on Aug. 11. That meant it wouldn’t advance.
Becker said in a tweet after the hearing that the Legislation “missed a chance to ensure police transparency & accountability. Without this fix, many agencies will continue to encrypt vital radio communications, cutting off almost 90 yrs of public & press access to critical public safety info. I’ll continue to fight to restore access.”
He also urged law enforcement to follow the model used by other agencies, including the CHP, to use alternatives to full encryption.
“Even if it had become law we really had no concerns as our original plan, before the bill ever became a possibility, was to use them the way the bill proposed — that is not everything would have been encrypted. I know the plans have varied by agency throughout the state,” Rasmussen said of the bill.
So far, there’s been no word about plans for new legislation to be introduced regarding encryption.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
As we head into the new year, the California Highway Patrol is educating the public on traffic safety laws that were passed during this year’s legislative season and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The laws take effect Jan. 1, 2023, unless otherwise noted.
Public Employment: Peace Officers: Citizenship (Senate Bill (SB) 960, Skinner)
The law maintains that peace officers, including peace officer trainees, be legally authorized to work in the United States consistent with federal law and regulations, however, removes the requirement that they be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
Catalytic Converters (SB 1087, Gonzalez) (Assembly Bill (AB) 1740, Muratsuchi)
These laws specifically list who can sell catalytic converters to recyclers and require those recyclers to keep documentation such as the year, make, model, and copy of the vehicle title from which the catalytic converter was removed.
The purpose of these laws is to help reduce catalytic converter theft.
Vehicular Manslaughter: Speeding and Reckless Driving (SB 1472, Stern)
This law expands the criteria for “gross negligence” as it relates to the crime of vehicular manslaughter.
Drivers involved in sideshow activity, exhibition of speed, or speeding over 100 miles per hour which results in a fatality could now be charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Motor Vehicle Speed Contests and Exhibitions of Speed (AB 2000, Gabriel)
Parking lots and off-street parking facilities are now included as locations where it is a crime to engage in a speed contest, exhibition of speed, or sideshow activity.
Endangered Missing Advisory: Feather Alert (AB 1314, Ramos)
The new “Feather Alert” allows law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to initiate an alert when an indigenous person has been kidnapped, abducted, or reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, and specific criteria has been met to permit alert activation.
Additionally, consistent with the Department’s existing AMBER, Blue and Silver Alert programs, this new “Feather Alert” program encourages the use of radio, television and social media to spread the information about the missing indigenous person.
Hit-and-Run Incidents: Yellow Alert (AB 1732, Patterson)
This law authorizes law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to activate a “Yellow Alert” when a fatal hit-and-run crash has occurred, and specific criteria has been met to permit alert activation.
The law also encourages local media outlets to disseminate the information contained in a Yellow Alert.
The new law serves to use the public’s assistance to improve the investigatory ability for law enforcement agencies throughout the state when working to solve fatal hit-and-run crashes.
Online Marketplaces: Reporting (AB 1700, Maienschein)
This law requires the Attorney General’s Office to create an online reporting system for users of third-party online marketplaces to report listings of suspected stolen items.
The reported information would be available to local law enforcement and the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force to assist with investigations.
Bicycles Omnibus Bill (AB 1909, Friedman)
Much like the move over or slow down law, this law provides for increased protections to bicyclists by requiring vehicles passing or overtaking a bicycle in the same direction, to move over to an adjacent lane of traffic, if one is available, or slow down and only pass the bicyclist when safe to do so.
The law also permits Class 3 e-bike riders to use approved bicycle paths and trails, bikeways, and bicycle lanes.
The law prohibits local governments from requiring bicycle registration and allows local authorities to prohibit any electric bicycle on an equestrian, hiking, or other recreational trail.
Electric Bicycles: Safety and Training Program (AB 1946, Boerner Horvath)
This requires the CHP to work with other traffic safety stakeholders such as the California Office of Traffic Safety, to develop statewide safety and training programs for electric bicycles.
This training program, which will consist of electric bicycle riding safety, emergency maneuver skills, rules of the road and laws pertaining to electric bicycles, will launch on the CHP’s website in September 2023.
Pedestrians (AB 2147, Ting)
This law prohibits peace officers from stopping pedestrians for certain pedestrian-specific violations, such as crossing the road outside of a crosswalk, unless there is an immediate danger of a crash.
The CHP reminds all road users of the responsibility to travel safely and look out for one another on the road.
The laws take effect Jan. 1, 2023, unless otherwise noted.
Public Employment: Peace Officers: Citizenship (Senate Bill (SB) 960, Skinner)
The law maintains that peace officers, including peace officer trainees, be legally authorized to work in the United States consistent with federal law and regulations, however, removes the requirement that they be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
Catalytic Converters (SB 1087, Gonzalez) (Assembly Bill (AB) 1740, Muratsuchi)
These laws specifically list who can sell catalytic converters to recyclers and require those recyclers to keep documentation such as the year, make, model, and copy of the vehicle title from which the catalytic converter was removed.
The purpose of these laws is to help reduce catalytic converter theft.
Vehicular Manslaughter: Speeding and Reckless Driving (SB 1472, Stern)
This law expands the criteria for “gross negligence” as it relates to the crime of vehicular manslaughter.
Drivers involved in sideshow activity, exhibition of speed, or speeding over 100 miles per hour which results in a fatality could now be charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Motor Vehicle Speed Contests and Exhibitions of Speed (AB 2000, Gabriel)
Parking lots and off-street parking facilities are now included as locations where it is a crime to engage in a speed contest, exhibition of speed, or sideshow activity.
Endangered Missing Advisory: Feather Alert (AB 1314, Ramos)
The new “Feather Alert” allows law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to initiate an alert when an indigenous person has been kidnapped, abducted, or reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, and specific criteria has been met to permit alert activation.
Additionally, consistent with the Department’s existing AMBER, Blue and Silver Alert programs, this new “Feather Alert” program encourages the use of radio, television and social media to spread the information about the missing indigenous person.
Hit-and-Run Incidents: Yellow Alert (AB 1732, Patterson)
This law authorizes law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to activate a “Yellow Alert” when a fatal hit-and-run crash has occurred, and specific criteria has been met to permit alert activation.
The law also encourages local media outlets to disseminate the information contained in a Yellow Alert.
The new law serves to use the public’s assistance to improve the investigatory ability for law enforcement agencies throughout the state when working to solve fatal hit-and-run crashes.
Online Marketplaces: Reporting (AB 1700, Maienschein)
This law requires the Attorney General’s Office to create an online reporting system for users of third-party online marketplaces to report listings of suspected stolen items.
The reported information would be available to local law enforcement and the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force to assist with investigations.
Bicycles Omnibus Bill (AB 1909, Friedman)
Much like the move over or slow down law, this law provides for increased protections to bicyclists by requiring vehicles passing or overtaking a bicycle in the same direction, to move over to an adjacent lane of traffic, if one is available, or slow down and only pass the bicyclist when safe to do so.
The law also permits Class 3 e-bike riders to use approved bicycle paths and trails, bikeways, and bicycle lanes.
The law prohibits local governments from requiring bicycle registration and allows local authorities to prohibit any electric bicycle on an equestrian, hiking, or other recreational trail.
Electric Bicycles: Safety and Training Program (AB 1946, Boerner Horvath)
This requires the CHP to work with other traffic safety stakeholders such as the California Office of Traffic Safety, to develop statewide safety and training programs for electric bicycles.
This training program, which will consist of electric bicycle riding safety, emergency maneuver skills, rules of the road and laws pertaining to electric bicycles, will launch on the CHP’s website in September 2023.
Pedestrians (AB 2147, Ting)
This law prohibits peace officers from stopping pedestrians for certain pedestrian-specific violations, such as crossing the road outside of a crosswalk, unless there is an immediate danger of a crash.
The CHP reminds all road users of the responsibility to travel safely and look out for one another on the road.