On November 10th, Assemblymember Ed Chau (D–Monterey Park) held a press conference in Monterey Park to discuss bills from his 2015 legislative bill package that will become new laws on January 1, 2016.

“I worked hard this year to ensure my constituents and all Californians have the resources necessary to assist with the issues affecting their daily lives,” said Assemblymember Chau. “Some of the legislation I authored will ensure that more resources and tools are available to create more affordable housing, provide the public with greater privacy protections against cybercrimes, and make sure that non-English speakers have access to language assistance services guaranteed under current law.”

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed a total of 12 bills authored by Assemblymember Chau. Some of the bills highlighted in today’s press conference included:

CYBER SECURITY

AB 195 – Hacker for Hire Prevention Act – The growth of Hacker-for-Hire websites allow some individuals to seek illegal hacking services from less than ethical hackers, such as installing spyware on devices and gaining access to the email and social media accounts of unsuspecting victims. This new law will protect individual privacy by making it a crime to assist in the solicitation of a hacker to illegally access a computer network. (Chapter 552, Statutes of 2015)

AB 964 – Data Breach Notification Act – For consumers, the loss of personal information from a data breach can result in identify theft, fraud, and personal embarrassment, all of which could take years to repair and recover from, if ever. This new law will make sure businesses and government agencies have strong technological safeguards in place, if our private information is compromised. (Chapter 522, Statutes of 2015)

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

AB 90 – Federal Housing Trust Fund (FHTF) – States need to designate an administering agency in order to receive monies from the Federal Housing Trust Fund (FHTF) for affordable housing. This new law designates the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires it to develop an allocation plan to demonstrate how the funds will be spent and submit the plan to the Legislature thirty days after receiving the funds. (Chapter 686, Statutes of 2015)

AB 744 – Density Bonus Law – In some cases, cities and counties apply excessive minimum parking standards to affordable housing developments that may be close to transit stations, which needlessly drive up the cost of the project. This new law allows developers who request a density bonus from a city to also request that the city reduce minimum parking requirements for an affordable housing development if it is within 1⁄2 mile of transit, a senior-only project close to transit, or serves special needs individuals close to transit. (Chapter 699, Statutes of 2015)

LANGUAGE ACCESS

AB 389 – Hospital Language Access – Current law requires each general acute care hospital to annually adopt a policy for providing language assistance to Limited English Proficient patients and to report that policy to the Department of Public Health (DPH). This new law requires hospitals and DPH to post language assistance policies online, enabling policymakers and consumers to access information the law guarantees. (Chapter 327, Statutes of 2015)

AB 1443 – Election Language Access – Current law provides a list of covered voters that need language assistance, but is silent on the methods or best practices to serve the multiple language needs of voters. This new law establishes in the Office of the Secretary of State a Language Accessibility Advisory Committee of appointed specialists to advise state and local elections officials on best practices to address language accessibility needs of voters. (Chapter 347, Statutes of 2015)