Existing law creates the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as a local area planning agency for the 9-county San Francisco Bay area with comprehensive regional transportation planning and other related responsibilities. Existing law establishes the Public Transit Revenue Measure District, governed by the same board that governs the commission, with jurisdiction extending throughout the boundaries of the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, and the City and County of San Francisco. Existing law authorizes a retail transactions and use tax applicable to the entire district to be imposed by the board of the district or by a qualified voter initiative for a duration of 14 years, and in specified amounts, subject to voter approval at the November 3, 2026, statewide general election. Existing law establishes specified procedures for that election, including a requirement that the elections officials of the counties where the measure will appear on the ballot mutually agree to use the same letter designation for the measure. This bill would revise those election procedures by, among other things, instead requiring the measure to be identified on the ballot by the designation "Regional Transit Measure" in each county included in the district and by requiring each county elections official in the district to select, from among the submissions of proposed arguments in favor of, and against, the measure, the arguments to be included in the county voter information guide of that county, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would extend an invitation to the people and government of the Province of Gauteng in South Africa to enter into a sister state relationship with California, would encourage the strengthening of existing partnerships, and would call upon California's universities, research institutions, and public agencies to explore new memoranda of understanding with Gauteng-based counterparts in areas of mutual interest.
Existing law requires the California Law Revision Commission to study, and limits the commission to studying, topics approved by resolution of the Legislature or by statute. This measure would grant approval to the commission to continue its study of designated topics that the Legislature previously authorized or directed the commission to study and two new topics of study, as specified. The measure would require the commission, before commencing work on any project within its authorized calendar of topics, to submit a detailed description of the scope of work to the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and the Senate Committee on Judiciary, and any other policy committee that has jurisdiction, as specified. If a major change to the scope of work occurs during the course of the project, the measure would require the commission to submit a description of the change.
Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Existing law defines "sale" and "purchase" for these purposes and provides certain exclusions from those definitions. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, excludes the transfer of vested property by a pawnbroker to a person who pledged the property to the pawnbroker as security for a loan, if specified requirements are met, from the definition of "sale" and "purchase," thus excluding that transfer from imposition of sales and use tax. This bill would extend the exclusion of the transfer of vested property by a pawnbroker to the person who pledged it, as described above, until January 1, 2032. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a sales and use tax exemption to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include that additional information required for the above sales and use tax exclusion. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, prohibits a lobbyist or lobbying firm from attempting to create a fictitious appearance of public favor or disfavor of any proposed legislative or administrative action or to cause any communication to be sent to any elected state officer, legislative official, agency official, or state candidate in the name of any fictitious person or in the name of any real person, except with the consent of the real person. The act defines "lobbyist employer" as any person, other than a lobbying firm, who employs one or more lobbyists or contracts for the services of a lobbying firm, as specified. This bill would extend the above prohibition to lobbyist employers. (2) The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. (3) A violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of a prohibition under the act, the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime and therefore create 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.
Existing law governs the establishment of conservatorships and guardianships. Existing law requires guardians and conservators to file inventories and accountings of estates with the court. Existing law authorizes the court to make an order that a guardian or conservator is exempt from making that accounting if certain conditions are satisfied, including, among others, that the estate at the beginning and end of the accounting period, exclusive of the residence of the ward or conservatee, consisted of a total net value of less than $15,000, and that the income of the estate for each month of the accounting period, exclusive of public benefits payments, was less than $2,000. This bill would expand the authority of the court to make that exemption if the total net value of the estate, exclusive of the residence of the ward or conservatee, is less than $30,000, and if the monthly income of the estate, exclusive of public benefit payments, is less than $3,200, subject to the other statutory conditions being met.
Existing law provides that if more than one violation of certain specified offenses, including, among others, sexual battery, occurs in more than one jurisdictional territory, and the defendant and the victim are the same for all of the offenses, jurisdiction for any of those offenses and any other properly joinable offenses may be in any jurisdiction where at least one of the offenses occurred. Existing law also provides that if more than one violation of certain other specified offenses occur in more than one jurisdictional territory, jurisdiction for any of those offenses and any other properly joinable offenses may be in any jurisdiction where at least one of the offenses occurred, regardless of whether the defendant and the victim are the same for all of the offenses. This bill would instead provide that the appropriate jurisdiction for more than one violation of sexual battery may be in any jurisdiction where at least one of the offenses occurred, without regard for whether all of the offenses have the same defendant and victim. The bill would also make that jurisdictional provision applicable if there is more than one violation of indecent exposure or of annoying or molesting a child.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates the use of campaign funds held by candidates for elective office, elected officers, and campaign committees. The act authorizes the use of campaign funds to pay or reimburse the state for security expenses to protect a candidate, an elected officer, or the immediate family or staff of a candidate or elected officer, as specified. The act defines "security expenses" to include, among other things, the reasonable costs of providing personal security to a candidate, elected officer, or the immediate family or staff of a candidate or elected officer. The act permits a candidate or elected officer to expend campaign funds for these purposes without any monetary cap until January 1, 2029. This bill would limit the use of campaign funds to pay for security personnel to only those instances where the security personnel hold the appropriate license issued by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the filing of reports of contributions and expenditures. The act requires committees and candidates to terminate their filing obligation, as provided by the Fair Political Practices Commission by regulation, ensuring that the committee or candidate will have no activity that must be disclosed subsequent to the termination. This bill would provide that if the Secretary of State determines that either of 2 conditions is present, the Secretary of State must provide notice to committees that receive contributions totaling $2,000 or more per year that the committee may be terminated 180 days after the notice is sent. Those conditions are: 1) The committee failed to submit a campaign report for at least the preceding 12 months and either had an ending cash balance of $3,000 or less on its last campaign statement or had an ending cash balance of $5,000 or less on its last campaign statement and owes $2,000 or more to the controlling candidate; 2) The committee filed a statement of organization in error. The bill would specify that if an objection to the termination notice is not filed by the committee or the commission with the Secretary of State within 180 days after the notice is sent, the Secretary of State may terminate the committee. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Existing law prohibits a cemetery authority from removing or permitting the removal of any interred remains, unless a permit for the removal has been issued by the local registrar of the district in which the premises are located, and delivered to the cemetery authority. Existing law authorizes the removal of the remains of a deceased person from a plot in a cemetery with the consent of the cemetery authority and the written consent of the surviving spouse, children, parents, or brothers or sisters, in that order. Under existing law, if the required consent cannot be obtained, permission by the superior court of the county where the cemetery is situated is sufficient. This bill would require a court to grant an application for permission upon a showing of good cause.
Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires the commission to issue a single subject teaching credential only in specified subjects, including in world language. Existing law requires the commission to adopt examinations and assessments to verify the subject matter knowledge and competence of candidates for those specified single subject teaching credentials, as provided. Existing law requires the commission to issue authorizations for a teacher to provide specific services to limited-English-proficient pupils, if certain minimum requirements are met, including the passage of one or more examinations that the commission determines is necessary for demonstrating the knowledge, skills, and language proficiency required for effective delivery of the services included in the authorization. Existing law authorizes the commission to issue an authorization for bilingual-cross-cultural competence for specified persons who will be serving English language learners and requires candidates for that authorization to demonstrate, by oral and written examination or by completing an approved program, among other things, that the person is competent in both the oral and written skills of a language other than English. This bill would authorize a candidate for any of the above-described credentials or authorizations to fulfill the applicable subject matter examination or language requirement in a world language for which the commission does not administer a subject matter examination by successfully completing a comparable postsecondary language proficiency assessment.
The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District Law establishes the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. The act authorizes the district to, among other things, prohibit the use of district water during an emergency caused by drought, or other threatened or existing water shortage, for specific uses that the district finds to be nonessential. Existing law prohibits the use of potable water for the irrigation of nonfunctional turf located on commercial, industrial, and institutional properties, other than a cemetery, and on properties of homeowners' associations, common interest developments, and community service organizations or similar entities, as specified. Existing law requires a person or entity to be subject to civil liability or penalties by the State Water Resources Control Board, as prescribed, or to civil liability and penalties imposed by an urban water supplier, pursuant to a locally adopted ordinance or policy. Existing law authorizes a public water system, city, county, or city and county to enforce the provisions relating to the prohibition, as specified. This bill would require a person or entity to be subject to civil liability or penalties imposed by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District pursuant to a locally adopted ordinance or policy. The bill would authorize the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District to enforce the provisions relating to the prohibition, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District.
