Since 1998, the California Unlawful Detainer Pilot Program has authorized city attorneys in select jurisdictions to initiate nuisance eviction cases against tenants arrested for controlled substances and illegal firearms. This 2018 update is the eighth public report to evaluate the merits of the program. Program use has been steady during the past three years, but still well below peak use a decade ago. The majority of arrested tenants voluntary vacate their residences when informed of pending evictions, and most tenants are Latino or African-American.
Assembly Bill 60 (2013) allowed undocumented residents of California to apply for and receive driver's licenses since January 1, 2015. Because federal law required the AB 60 driving-only license to be distinguishable from standard driver's licenses, possession of an AB 60 license implies the undocumented status of the license holder. AB 60 thus contained provisions prohibiting discrimination against AB 60 licensees and mandated this report to review any such incidents.
This publication is an update of a 2004 report that identified California government activities related to issues of common interest and concern to California and Mexico. The survey describes over 100 programs operated by dozens of California state departments, agencies, boards and commissions.
Three experts discuss the impact of rapid technological change on California's economy and jobs, as well as the opportunities, challenges and risks awaiting California policymakers. Anne Neville, director of the California Research Bureau, moderates a thought-provoking discussion with Nicholas Davis, head of Society and Innovation at the World Economic Forum in Geneva; Rachel Hatch, research director of the 10-Year Forecast at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto; and California's chief economist, Irena Asmundson. (1:18:05)
California enacted Assembly Bill 2494 (2014) to expand the legal remedies available against frivolous litigation. Specifically, the statute revived California Code of Civil Procedure section 128.5, which allows parties in lawsuits to file motions requesting sanctions against bad faith legal actions. This report, mandated by AB 2494, examines the statute's impact in the first two years after passage on the frequency of requests for sanctions.
The Medical Board of California protects the health of Californians by ensuring that practicing physicians in the state are licensed and regulated. Conducted at the request of the Medical Board, this report looked at 10 years of disciplinary data to see if there was any relationship between physician race and disciplinary outcomes. Latino/a and Black physicians were both more likely to receive complaints and more likely to see those complaints escalate to investigations. Latino/a physicians were also more likely to see those investigations result in discipline. Asian physicians had a reduced likelihood of receiving complaints, or of those complaints escalating to investigations.
Californians voted in 100 Assembly and Senate races in the November 2016 election. Thirty-one new members were elected to the Legislature, shifting the demographics of both bodies. The Assembly is now majority-minority (54%). The number of women legislators decreased by 5, bringing the total to 26, the lowest since 1991-1992. This report was updated on December 5, 2016.
As the Legislature considered a major expansion of Housing First solutions for chronically homeless persons, the Research Bureau gathered experts to discuss the evidence behind Housing First and emerging solutions for the majority of homeless people who are not chronically homeless.
State legislation allowing city attorneys in a pilot program to evict tenants for drug- and weapon-related nuisances began almost two decades ago in California. Four cities currently participate in the program—Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland and Sacramento. Under the pilot program city attorney-sponsored evictions are permitted when tenants "create a nuisance on the property by using or allowing the premises to be used" for unlawful firearms or drug activity. In 2015, city attorneys used the program 64 times against 74 tenants, a marked decrease from the 235 times cities used the program in 2011. This report reviews program use by each city and provides tenant demographic information and other data.
Under the social model of recovery from substance abuse disorders, the sober living home has become an important resource for persons in recovery in California and elsewhere. Since the law generally treats sober living homes as residences rather than treatment facilities, state and local governments do not require them to carry licenses or impose other regulations outside of the general regulations on housing, zoning and land use. The proliferation of sober living homes in some places has raised concerns that they are being operated more like businesses than homes, impinging on the residential use and character of areas where they are concentrated. This report explores recent efforts to regulate sober living homes at the state and local level, the legal challenges that local ordinances in California have faced and policy options for regulation of these establishments at the state level.
