Better for Families Tax Refund.

(1) Existing law authorizes various forms of relief for low-income Californians, including certain tax benefits and public assistance programs. This bill would authorize the Controller to make a one-time Better for Families Tax Refund payment to each qualified recipient, as defined, of an applicable amount, as specified, in a form and manner determined by the Franchise Tax Board, in order to provide relief to Californians. This bill would create the Better for Families Tax Refund Fund, a new fund in the State Treasury, for the purposes of making the above-described payment, and would continuously appropriate that fund. This bill would, except as provided, make Better for Families Tax Refund payments, as specified, automatically exempt from a garnishment order, as defined, and would require a financial institution to employ a certain procedure to identify a deposit exempt pursuant to that provision. The bill would prohibit a financial institution that attempts to comply with those provisions in good faith from being subject to liability, as specified. (2) Existing law requires the Controller to state an account with persons that receive funds or property belonging to the state and fail to properly render account thereof to the state, and persons that fail to pay to the State Treasury any money belonging to the state. Existing law requires the Controller to offset delinquent accounts against personal income tax refunds. This bill would, before January 1, 2027, prohibit the Controller from offsetting delinquent accounts with the one-time payments authorized by this bill. (3) Existing law authorizes the Franchise Tax Board to issue an order to specified financial institutions, persons, and entities, including an officer or department of the state, to withhold and remit liquid assets of a delinquent taxpayer in order to satisfy the tax obligations of that taxpayer. This bill would, before January 1, 2027, prohibit the board from issuing an order to withhold and remit any amounts from the one-time payments authorized by this bill for liabilities owed by the eligible recipient pursuant to specified provisions. (4) The Personal Income Tax Law imposes a tax on individual taxpayers measured by the taxpayer's taxable income for the taxable year, but, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various exclusions from gross income. This bill would exclude Better for Families Tax Refund payments authorized by this bill from the gross income of recipients for personal income tax purposes. (5) Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure, as defined to include exclusions from income, to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill would provide findings to comply with the additional information requirement for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. (6) Existing law limits the collection and use of taxpayer information and provides that any unauthorized use of this information is punishable as a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2025, the Franchise Tax Board to provide tax returns or return information necessary for the Controller to make specified payments, and makes the information received by the Controller subject to limitation on the collection and use of that information. This bill would extend the above authorization to January 1, 2027, and provide, until January 1, 2027, the board the same authorization to disclose return or return information to the Controller to make payments to qualified recipients pursuant to the bill and to any third-party vendor with an existing contract for services relating to the distribution of payments to qualified recipients to provide services relating to the distribution of those payments. The bill would make the information provided to the Controller and a third-party vendor subject to the limitation on the collection and use of that information. By expanding the scope of a crime, the 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. (7) The California Constitution generally prohibits the total annual appropriations subject to limitation of the state and each local government from exceeding the appropriations limit of the entity of government for the prior fiscal year, adjusted for the change in the cost of living and the change in population, and prescribes procedures for making adjustments to the appropriations limit. The California Constitution excludes certain specified appropriations as exempt from this total annual limit, including tax refunds. This bill would provide that the appropriations made by the bill are appropriations for purposes of refunding state tax liability incurred by Californians during the 2021–22 fiscal year, are not subject to the annual appropriations limit set by the California Constitution. The bill would make related findings and declarations. (8) This bill would make findings and declarations related to a gift of public funds. (9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.