Property taxation: disaster relief: Children's Health and Human Services Special Fund.

(1) Existing property tax law provides, pursuant to a specified provision of the California Constitution, for a homeowner's property tax exemption in the amount of $7,000 of the full value of a "dwelling," as defined. This bill would also provide that any dwelling that qualified for the exemption prior to the commencement dates of the wildfires that were the subject of the Governor's proclamations in October 2008, November 2008, and May 2009, that was damaged or destroyed by the wildfires in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara, and that has not changed ownership since the commencement date of those wildfires, may not be denied the exemption solely on the basis that the dwelling was temporarily damaged or destroyed or was being reconstructed by the owner, or was temporarily uninhabited as a result of restricted access to the property due to wildfires. The California Constitution requires the Legislature, in each fiscal year, to reimburse local governments for the revenue losses incurred by those governments in that fiscal year as a result of the homeowners' property tax exemption. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to make this required reimbursement in the annual Budget Act. By requiring local tax officials to implement new exemption criteria, 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law provide for the carryover to specified taxable years of specified losses sustained as a result of certain disasters occurring in California in an area determined by the President of the United States to warrant specified federal assistance, or proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of emergency. This bill would extend these provisions to losses sustained in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara as a result of the wildfires that commenced in October 2008, November 2008, or May 2009. This bill would authorize a taxpayer to make an election to claim a deduction for those losses on the tax return for the preceding year. (3) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income recipients. Existing law creates the Healthy Families Program, administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, to arrange for the provision of health care services to children less than 19 years of age who meet certain criteria, including having a limited gross household income. Existing law imposes various taxes, including a tax at a specified rate on the gross premiums of an insurer, as defined. AB 1422 of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature would, until January 1, 2011, impose that tax on the total operating revenue, as specified, of a Medi-Cal managed care plan, as defined. AB 1422 of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature would continuously appropriate the proceeds from the tax (A) to the department for purposes of the Medi-Cal program in an amount equal to 38.41% of the proceeds from the tax and (B) to the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board for purposes of the Healthy Families Program in an amount equal to 61.59% of the proceeds from the tax. This bill, if AB 1422 is enacted and becomes operative during the 2009 portion of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature, would create the Children's Health and Human Services Special Fund in the State Treasury, into which revenues derived from the tax on Medi-Cal managed care plans, net of refunds, would be deposited. This bill would require the moneys in the fund to be used exclusively for the purposes of the Medi-Cal program and the Healthy Families Program, as prescribed in AB 1422.