BILL NUMBER: AB 2536	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 28, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mullin

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

    An act to amend Section 3300 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to energy.   An act to amend Section
230.3 of the Labor Code, relating to employees. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2536, as amended, Mullin.  California Consumer Power
and Conservation Financing Authority.   Employees:
emergency rescue personnel.  
   Existing law prohibits an employer from discharging or in any
manner discriminating against an employee for taking time off to
perform emergency duty as a volunteer firefighter, reserve peace
officer, or emergency rescue personnel. Existing law defines
emergency rescue personnel to include an officer, employee, or member
of a political subdivision of the state, or of a sheriff's
department, police department, or a private fire department. Existing
law further requires the employer to reinstate and reimburse an
employee who is discharged or in any other manner discriminated
against in his or her employment in violation of these provisions.
Under existing law, any employer who willfully refuses to rehire,
promote, or otherwise restore an employee, as specified, is guilty of
a misdemeanor.  
   This bill would expand the definition of emergency rescue
personnel to include an officer, employee, or member of a disaster
medical response entity sponsored or requested by the state. By
expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.  
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.  
   The California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority
Act declares the intent of the Legislature in establishing the
authority.  
   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that
declaration of legislative intent. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program:  no
  yes  .


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 230.3 of the   Labor
Code   is amended to read: 
   230.3.  (a)  No   An  employer shall
 not  discharge or in any manner discriminate against an
employee for taking time off to perform emergency duty as a volunteer
firefighter, a reserve peace officer, or emergency rescue personnel.

   (b)  Any   An  employee who is
discharged, threatened with discharge, demoted, suspended, or in any
other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of
employment by his or her employer because the employee has taken time
off to perform emergency duty as a volunteer firefighter, a reserve
peace officer, or emergency rescue personnel shall be entitled to
reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits
caused by the acts of the employer. Any employer who willfully
refuses to rehire, promote, or otherwise restore an employee or
former employee who has been determined to be eligible for rehiring
or promotion by a grievance procedure, arbitration, or hearing
authorized by law, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   (c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to
any public safety agency or provider of emergency medical services
 when,   if,  as determined by the
employer, the employee's absence would hinder the availability of
public safety or emergency medical services.
   (d) (1) For purposes of this section, "volunteer firefighter"
shall have the same meaning as the term "volunteer" in 
subdivision (m) of  Section 50952 of the Government Code.
   (2) For purposes of this section, "emergency rescue personnel"
means any person who is an officer, employee, or member of a fire
department or fire protection or firefighting agency of the federal
government, the State of California, a city, county, city and county,
district, or other public or municipal corporation or political
subdivision of this state, or of a sheriff's department, police
department, or a private fire department,  or of a disaster
medical response entity sponsored or requested by this state, 
whether that person is a volunteer or partly paid or fully paid,
while he or she is actually engaged in providing emergency services
as defined by  subdivision (e) of  Section 1799.107
of the Health and Safety Code.
   SEC. 2.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 3300 of the Public Utilities
Code is amended to read:
   3300.  The Legislature finds and declares that to provide the
citizens of California with reliable, affordable electrical power, to
ensure sufficient power reserves, to assure stability and
rationality in California's electricity market, to encourage energy
efficiency and conservation as well as the use of renewable energy
resources, and to protect the public health, welfare, and safety, the
state needs to finance, purchase, lease, own, operate, acquire, or
otherwise provide financial assistance for public and private
facilities for the generation and transmission of electricity and for
renewable energy, energy efficiency, and conservation programs.