State government.

(1) Existing law, the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, regulates and licenses the cultivation, dispensing, distribution, manufacturing, testing, and transportation of medical cannabis through various state agencies, including, among others, the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health, and authorizes the bureau to adopt rules to carry out the provisions of that act, as specified. That act requires a person to obtain both a local and state license to engage in commercial cannabis activities, except that the act authorizes, until January 1, 2018, a facility or entity that is operating in compliance with local laws to continue in operation until its application for licensure is approved or denied. That act requires the State Department of Public Health to regulate cannabis testing laboratories, as specified. That act authorizes the bureau to establish appellations of origin for marijuana grown in the state. That act establishes the Medical Marijuana Regulation Safety Act Fund and provides that moneys in the fund shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would, among other things, change the name of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, and the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act Fund to the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, and the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act Fund, and would change references to medical marijuana or marijuana to medical cannabis or cannabis, respectively. The bill would authorize licensing authorities, as defined, to adopt rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of that act and emergency regulations, as specified. The bill would add additional grounds for disciplinary action, including failure to maintain safe conditions for inspection by a licensing authority. The bill would exempt the premises or person from the above-mentioned requirement to obtain both a local and state license only if certain conditions are met, including that the applicant continues to operate in compliance with all local and state laws, except for possession of a state license. The bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to adopt principles and guidelines for diversion and use of water for cannabis cultivation, as specified. The bill would require an applicant for a state license issued by a licensing authority to meet certain requirements, including providing proof of a bond to cover the costs of destruction of medical cannabis or medical cannabis products if necessitated by a violation of the licensing requirements. The bill would require an applicant for a license for indoor or outdoor cultivation to identify the source of water supply, as specified. The bill would authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish appellations of origin for cannabis grown in the state instead of the bureau. The bill would require the bureau to regulate the laboratory testing of cannabis instead of the State Department of Public Health, as specified. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to, among other things, develop standards for the manufacturing and labeling of all manufactured medical cannabis products and would require the State Department of Public Health, when it has evidence that a medical cannabis product is adulterated or misbranded, to notify the manufacturer, and authorizes the department to take certain actions. (2) Existing law prohibits an entity from substantially diverting or obstructing the natural flow of, or substantially changing or using any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, any river, stream, or lake, or from depositing certain material where it may pass into any river, stream, or lake, without first notifying the Department of Fish and Wildlife of that activity, and entering into a lake or streambed alteration agreement if required by the department to protect fish and wildlife resources. Existing law exempts certain routine maintenance and operation activities from those requirements after the initial notification and agreement and exempts certain emergency activities from those notification and agreement requirements. Existing law authorizes the director of the department to establish a graduated schedule of fees to be charged to any entity subject to the notification and agreement provisions and requires any fees received to be deposited into the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. Under existing law, it is unlawful for any person to violate those notification and agreement provisions, and a person who violates them is also subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each violation. Existing law, in order to facilitate the remediation and permitting of marijuana cultivation sites, requires the department to adopt regulations to enhance the fees on any entity subject to lake or streambed alternation agreement provisions for marijuana cultivation sites that require remediation. Existing law prohibits this fee schedule from exceeding the fee limits established for lake or streambed alteration agreements. This bill would exempt an entity from the requirement to enter into a lake or streambed alteration agreement with the department for activities authorized by a license or renewed license for cannabis cultivation issued by the Department of Food and Agriculture for the term of the license or renewed license if the entity submits the written notification to the department, a copy of the license or renewed license, and the fee required for a lake or streambed alteration agreement, and the department determines certain requirements are met. If an entity receives an exemption, any failure by the entity to comply with certain requirements contained in the license would constitute a violation of the lake or streambed alteration agreement provisions. Because this violation would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also authorize the department to adopt regulations establishing the requirements and procedure for the issuance of a general agreement in a geographic area for a category or categories of activities related to cannabis cultivation that would be in lieu of an individual lake or streambed alteration agreement. (3) Existing law, with certain exceptions, requires each person who diverts water after December 31, 1965, to file with the State Water Resources Control Board a statement of diversion and use, and to include specified information, including the purpose of the use. Existing law requires each person or entity who holds a permit or license to appropriate water, and certain lessors of water, to pay an annual fee according to a schedule established by the board. Existing law requires a person or entity who files a certain application, registration, petition, or request to pay a fee according to a schedule established by the board. Revenues generated from these fees are deposited into the Water Rights Fund, which are available, upon appropriation, for specified purposes. This bill would require a statement of diversion and use to also include information regarding the amount of water used, if any, for cannabis cultivation. The bill would require a person who files a statement of diversion and use with the board reporting that water was used for cannabis cultivation to pay a fee according to a fee schedule established by the board. The bill would authorize moneys in the Water Rights Fund, upon appropriation, to be expended by the board for the purposes of carrying out water diversion-related provisions of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. (4) Existing law authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to issue a cease and desist order against a person who is violating, or threatening to violate, certain requirements relating to water use. This bill would authorize the board to issue a cease and desist order against a person who is both diverting or using water for cannabis cultivation and violating, or threatening to violate, certain licensing and water diversion-related provisions of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. (5) Under existing law, a person who violates a cease and desist order may be liable in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for each day in which the violation occurs and, for a violation occurring in a critically dry year immediately preceded by 2 or more consecutive below normal, dry, or critically dry years or during a period for which the Governor has issued a proclamation of a state of emergency based on drought conditions, may be liable in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each day in which the violation occurs. Existing law authorizes a person or entity in violation of a term or condition of a permit, license, certificate, or registration issued by, an order adopted by, or regulations adopted by, the state board to be civilly liable for an amount not to exceed $500 for each day in which the violation occurs. Revenue generated from these penalties is deposited in the Water Rights Fund. This bill would authorize a person or entity who violates certain licensing and water diversion-related provisions of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act to be held liable in an amount not to exceed the sum of (1) $500 dollars for a violation plus $250 for each additional day on which the violation continues if the person fails to correct the violation within 30 days after the board has called the violation to the attention of the person and (2) $2,500 for each acre-foot of water diverted or used in violation of the applicable requirement. Revenue generated from these penalties would be deposited in the Water Rights Fund. (6) Existing law requires a person who diverts 10 acre-feet of water per year or more under a permit or license to install and maintain a device or employ a method capable of measuring the rate of direct diversion, rate of collection to storage, and rate of withdrawal or release from storage, as specified, and with certain exceptions. Existing law requires the permittee or licensee to maintain a record of all diversion monitoring and the total amount of water diverted and submit these records to the state board, as prescribed. Existing law requires a person who diverts water under a registration, permit, or license to report to the state board, at least annually, certain information, including the monitoring information, if applicable. This bill would require a person who diverts water under a registration, permit, or license to also report to the state board, at least annually, information regarding the amount of water used, if any, for cannabis cultivation. (7) Existing law, the California Seed Law, regulates seed sold in California, and requires each container of agricultural seed that is for sale or sold within this state for sowing purposes to be labeled, as specified, unless the sale is an occasional sale of seed grain by the producer of the seed grain to his or her neighbor for use by the purchaser within the county of production. This bill would also exclude from the California Seed Law any cannabis seed, as defined, sold or offered for sale in the state. (8) Existing law, the Milk and Milk Products Act of 1947, regulates the production of milk and milk products in this state. The act specifies standards for butter. The act requires a license from the Secretary of Food and Agriculture for each separate milk products plant or place of business dealing in, receiving, manufacturing, freezing, or processing milk, or any milk product, or manufacturing, freezing, or processing imitation ice cream or imitation ice milk. This bill would exempt from the Milk and Milk Products Act of 1947 butter purchased from a licensed milk products plant or retail location that is subsequently infused or mixed with medical cannabis at the premises or location that is not required to be licensed as a milk products plant. (9) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, and before January 1, 2017, a credit for a qualified taxpayer, defined as a person responsible for planting a crop, managing the crop, and harvesting the crop from the land, in an amount equal to 10% of the cost that would otherwise be included in, or required to be included in, inventory costs, as specified under federal law, with respect to the donation of fresh fruits or fresh vegetables to a food bank located in California. This bill would establish similar credits under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022. The bill would, as compared to the existing credits, modify the credit amount to instead equal 15% of the qualified value, as defined, of the fresh fruits or vegetables. The bill would require the credit to be claimed on a timely filed original return. (10) Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program. Under the program, moneys from the continuously appropriated Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund are available for the purposes of providing shelter, as specified, to homeless persons. This bill would create the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program, also to be administered by the department. The bill, among other things, would require the department to make grants under the program to qualifying subrecipients to implement activities that address the needs of homeless individuals and families and assist them to regain stability in permanent housing as quickly as possible, as specified. The bill, to the extent funds are made available by the Legislature, would authorize moneys in the Emergency Housing and Assistance Fund to be used for the purposes of the program. (11) Existing law establishes a low-income housing tax credit program pursuant to which the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee provides procedures and requirements for the allocation of state insurance, income, and corporation tax credit amounts among low-income housing projects based on federal law. This bill, beginning on or after January 1, 2016, and before January 1, 2020, would allow a taxpayer that is allowed a low-income housing tax credit to elect to sell all or a portion of that credit to one or more unrelated parties, as described, for each taxable year in which the credit is allowed for not less than 80% of the amount of the credit to be sold, and would provide for the one-time resale of that credit, as provided. The bill would require the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee to enter into an agreement with the Franchise Tax Board to pay any costs incurred by the Franchise Tax Board in administering these provisions. Existing law, in the case of a partnership, requires the allocation of the credits, on or after January 1, 2009, and before January 1, 2016, to partners based upon the partnership agreement, regardless of how the federal low-income housing tax credit, as provided, is allocated to the partners, or whether the allocation of the credit under the terms of the agreement has substantial economic effect, as specified. This bill would extend the January 1, 2016, date to January 1, 2020. (12) The Public Safety Communications Act of 2013 (act) establishes the Public Safety Communications Division within the Office of Emergency Services and, among other things, requires the division to acquire, install, equip, maintain, and operate new or existing public safety communications systems and facilities for public safety agencies, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the division to aid local public agencies in the formulation of concepts, methods, and procedures that will improve the operation of nonemergency telephone systems, and requires the division to perform certain duties related to local emergency telephone systems. This bill, beginning on July 1, 2016, would create the Public Safety Communications Revolving Fund in the State Treasury and require that the fund consist of, among others, revenues from the provision or sale of public safety communications services provided for in the act or of other services rendered by the division, and moneys appropriated and made available by the Legislature for the purposes of the act. The bill would require the Director of Emergency Services to administer the fund and would require the fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay all costs to the office resulting from the act or from rendering services to the state or public agencies, and to establish reserves, as specified. The bill would require the reduction of the billing rates for services rendered by the office in a fiscal year if the balance in the fund at the end of the prior fiscal year meets certain conditions, and would require the Controller to transfer payments authorized to be collected by the division for the division's services to the fund, as specified. (13) Existing law establishes the Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses in financing the costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties, and also establishes within the program the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses in financing the costs of projects that alter or retrofit existing small business facilities to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Under existing law, both programs are administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (authority) . This bill would establish within the Capital Access Loan Program the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program to assist residential property owners and small business owners in seismically retrofitting residences and small businesses by covering losses on qualified loans for those purposes, as specified. The bill would require the authority to administer the program, including regulations and funds received for the program, as specified. The bill would also authorize the authority to, by regulation, implement loan loss reserve programs to benefit any individual person engaged in qualifying activities that require financing, as specified. This bill would establish the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program Fund and would continuously appropriate that fund to the authority to carry out the purposes of the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program. (14) Existing law authorizes an individual to contribute amounts in excess of his or her income tax liability for the support of specified funds and allows an individual to designate on his or her tax return that a specified amount in excess of his or her tax liability be transferred to the Habitat for Humanity Fund. Existing law requires moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board, the Controller, and the Department of Housing and Community Development for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and the balance to the Department of Housing and Community Development to distribute grants to Habitat for Humanity affiliates in California that meet certain requirements, including having a specified tax-exempt status. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to award grants through a competitive, project-specific grant process and be responsible for overseeing that grant program and prohibits a Habitat for Humanity affiliate from using a grant award for administrative expenses or for any purposes outside of California. Existing law also has administrative provisions applicable to voluntary contributions. This bill would instead require the Department of Housing and Community Development to disburse these moneys to Habitat for Humanity of California, Inc., and would require that organization to submit a plan to the department for the use and competitive project-specific distribution of moneys to Habitat for Humanity affiliates in California that meet certain requirements, including having a specified tax-exempt status. The bill would allow Habitat for Humanity of California, Inc., to use a specified amount of moneys for administrative costs and would require the organization to submit an annual audit of the program to the department, as provided. (15) Existing law establishes the California Housing Finance Agency with a primary purpose of meeting the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Under existing law, the California Housing Loan Insurance Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, is established for the purpose of insuring loans and bonds, and defraying administrative expenses incurred by the agency in operating these programs of loan and bond insurance, as specified. Existing law establishes within the agency a Director of Insurance of the fund who is required to manage and conduct the business and affairs of the insurance fund, as specified. This bill would repeal provisions relating to the Director of Insurance of the fund. The bill would instead establish the director of enterprise risk management and compliance within the agency, who would be required to assist in the implementation of processes, tools, and systems to identify, assess, measure, manage, monitor, and mitigate risks related to the development of new programs or changes to existing law or regulations that may result in new or increased risk to the agency, as specified. Existing law requires the agency to obtain an annual audit of the insurance fund's books and accounts regarding its activities by an independent certified public accountant, to provide that audit to the Governor, the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Senate and Assembly housing policy committees, the Senate and Assembly budget committees, and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and to make the audit available for review by interested parties no later than November 1 of each year. This bill would instead require the agency to obtain an annual agreed-upon procedures engagement of the insurance fund's books and accounts, to provide that agreed-upon procedures engagement to the to the Governor, the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Senate and Assembly housing policy committees, the Senate and Assembly budget committees, and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and to make the agreed-upon procedures engagement available for review by interested parties no later than November 1 of each year. By expanding the purposes of a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (16) Existing law, known as the Second Chance Program, requires the Board of State and Community Corrections to administer a competitive grant program that focuses on community-based solutions for reducing recidivism using certain funds allocated pursuant to the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted by Proposition 47 at the November 4, 2014, general election. This bill would establish the Community-Based Transitional Housing Program, to be administered by the Department of Finance, for the purpose of providing grants to cities, counties, and cities and counties to increase the supply of transitional housing available to persons previously incarcerated for felony and misdemeanor convictions and funded with moneys appropriated for that purpose in the annual Budget Act or other measure. The bill would require an applicant city, county, or city and county to submit an application between October 1, 2016, and October 1, 2018, that includes specified information and to approve the issuance of a conditional use permit or other local entitlement for a transitional housing facility that meets specified criteria, including that the facility provide transitional housing for a period of not less than 10 years and that it provide additional services to residents. If, after approval of its application, the city, county, or city and county fails to issue the conditional use permit or provide other local entitlement within a specified time period, the bill would provide that the approval of the application is void and the city, county, or city and county is permanently ineligible to submit any future application for funding under the program. This bill would require the department to approve or deny an application based on specified criteria within 90 days of receipt and determine the amount of funds to award to the applicant city, county, or city and county. The bill would require that the department award up to $2,000,000 to each successful applicant and that 60% of the award be retained by the city, county, or city and county for certain law enforcement and community outreach purposes and 40% of the award be provided to the facility operator to provide services, enhance security, perform community outreach, or cover start-up costs. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on November 1, 2017, and each November 1 thereafter until November 1, 2020, as provided. In addition, the bill would require the department's Office of State Audits and Evaluations to conduct a review of the program to determine its effectiveness in providing services to offenders released from state prison or county jail. The bill would authorize the department to use up to $500,000 of the amount appropriated in any budget act or other measure for the program for this review. The Administrative Procedure Act governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. That act exempts from its provisions actions by the department to adopt and update, as necessary, instructions to any state or local agency for the preparation, development, or administration of the state budget. This bill would provide that any action by the department to adopt and update instructions to any state or local agency for the purpose of carrying out the Community-Based Transitional Housing Program constitutes a department action to adopt and update instructions for the preparation, development, or administration of the state budget and is exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act. (17) Existing law establishes within the Department of Housing and Community Development the California Housing Finance Agency and provides that the primary purpose of the agency is to meet the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law requires the California Housing Finance Agency to administer various housing finance assistance programs, including, among others, the California Homebuyer's Downpayment Assistance Program and the Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance Program of 2002. This bill would discontinue those and other specified programs on and after July 1, 2016. Existing law also requires the agency to administer the Roberti-Greene Home Purchase Assistance Program, which provides first-time homebuyers with home purchase assistance in the form of interest rate subsidies and downpayment assistance, among others. Existing law establishes the Home Purchase Assistance Fund in the State Treasury and continuously appropriates the fund to the agency for expenditure pursuant to the program and defraying actual administrative costs of the agency. This bill, among other things, would modify the program to instead provide home purchase assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers to qualify for the purchase of owner-occupied homes and would revise the terms under which that assistance is provided. The bill would authorize the agency, pursuant to specified objectives, to create its own home purchase assistance programs, home purchase assistance products, or both, on such terms and conditions as the agency deems prudent. On and after July 1, 2016, the bill would transfer any obligated amounts from the funds for the programs discontinued by the bill, and any loan receivables, interest, or other amounts accruing to the agency pursuant to those programs, to the Home Purchase Assistance Fund. By expanding the authorized uses of continuously appropriated funds, this bill would make an appropriation. (18) Existing law permits a person, at the time of registering to vote, to choose whether or not to disclose the name of a political party that he or she prefers on his or her affidavit of registration. When a county elections official receives an affidavit of registration that does not include a political party preference in the space provided, existing law requires the elections official to presume that the person has declined to disclose a party preference. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to register a person to vote based on the person's motor vehicle records, which constitute a completed affidavit of registration, as specified. If the person does not provide a political party preference in his or her motor vehicle records, existing law requires the person's political party preference to be designated as "Unknown" and requires the person to be treated as a "No Party Preference" voter. This bill would require a county elections official who receives an affidavit of registration that does not include a political party preference to designate the person's political party preference as "Unknown" on a voter registration index and would require the person to otherwise be treated as a "No Party Preference" voter. This bill would specify that a voter whose political party preference is designated as "Unknown" because he or she did not provide a political party preference in his or her motor voter records is required to be designated as such on a voter registration index. Existing law provides that a political party is qualified to participate in a primary election or presidential general election if voters equal in number to at least 0.33% of the total number of voters registered on a specified day before the election have declared their preference for that political party. For purposes determining whether a political party qualified to participate in the presidential general election, existing law prohibits a person who is registered to vote by the Secretary of State through his or her motor vehicle records, and whose party preference is designated as "Unknown" because he or she did not provide a party preference, from being counted in the total number of voters registered before the election. This bill would prohibit counting a person in the total number of voters registered before the election for purposes of determining whether a political party qualified to participate in a primary election if that person is registered by a county elections official through an affidavit of registration, or by the Secretary of State through motor vehicle records, and his or her party preference is designated as "Unknown" because he or she did not include a party preference on his or her affidavit. By imposing additional duties on the county elections officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (19) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (12) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.