California Bills

(1) Existing law, except as specified, prohibits any state agency from expending funds appropriated for design-build projects until the Department of Finance and the State Public Works Board have approved performance criteria or performance criteria and concept drawings for the project. Existing law, for these purposes, defines the term "performance criteria" to mean the information that fully describes the scope of the proposed project, as specified. Existing law, for these purposes, defines the term "concept drawings" to mean any schematic drawings or architectural renderings that are prepared, in addition to performance criteria, in the detail necessary to sufficiently describe the state's needs. This bill would revise the definition of "performance criteria," for these purposes, to include concept drawings, as specified. The bill would additionally make conforming changes. (2) Existing law establishes the State Public Works Board which consists of the Director of Finance, the Director of Transportation, and the Director of General Services. Existing law authorizes the Director of Transportation and the Director of General Services to appoint a deputy or assistant director in their respective departments to act in their place on the board, as specified. This bill would repeal that authorization. (3) Existing law requires the State Public Works Board to notify the Department of General Services whenever the revenues, rentals, or receipts from the operation of a public building that was acquired or constructed by the board are no longer required or pledged for the payment of principal or interest on any of the certificates or revenue bonds of the board. Existing law provides that thereafter, that public building is under the jurisdiction of, and operated and maintained by, the Department of General Services. This bill would repeal this notification requirement and instead require those buildings to return to the jurisdiction of, and be operated and managed by, the state agency that had jurisdiction of the property prior to the board's financing of the public building. The bill would additionally make conforming changes. Existing law exempts from these provisions any public buildings that are acquired by lease by the board from a state agency, for the purposes of leasing the public building back to the state agency, as specified, and public buildings constructed for lease purchase to the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Governors of the California Maritime Academy, or any community college district. Existing law provides that when the revenues, rentals, or receipts from the operation of any public facility or public building are no longer required or pledged for the payment of principal or interest on the certificates or revenue bonds of the board, title to the public building vests in the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Governors of the California Maritime Academy, or the community college district. This bill would repeal these exemption and vesting provisions. (4) Existing law, until July 1, 2015, authorizes the State Public Works Board to acquire public buildings by lease from any state agency, and to lease those public buildings back to the state agency and pledge the revenues, rentals, or receipts to the lease to secure repayment of revenue bonds, notes, or certificates issued by the board for the purpose of facilitating the financing of public buildings, as specified. This bill would eliminate the repeal date and require the Department of Finance to report to the Legislature by June 30, 2017, on the effects of this repeal, as specified. (5) Existing law requires all revenue bonds issued for state building construction to bear the signature of the Governor, and the facsimile countersignature of the Controller and the Treasurer, as specified. Existing law requires all interest coupons attached to each bond to bear the facsimile signature of the Treasurer, as specified. Existing law specifies that the rate of interest to be born by the bonds need not be uniform for all bonds of the same issue or series or division and provides that the rate may be determined and fixed by the State Public Works Board by resolution adopted at or after the sale of the bonds. This bill would eliminate the requirement that all interest coupons attached to each bond bear the facsimile signature of the Treasurer and all references to interest coupons in these provisions. The bill would additionally provide that a "not to exceed" interest rate may be determined and fixed by the board by resolution adopted prior to or after the sale of the bonds. (6) Existing law requires the highest bid received on the sale of the bonds to be determined by deducting the total amount of the premium bid, if any, from the total amount of the interest that the state would be required to pay from the date of the bonds or the last preceding interest payment date, whichever is latest, to the respective maturity date of the bonds, as specified, and requires the award to be made on the basis of the lowest net interest cost to the state. Existing law requires the Treasurer, upon receipt of a resolution of the State Public Works Board authorizing the issuance of bonds, to provide for the preparation of the bonds in accordance with the resolution. In the case of a public sale, existing law authorizes the Treasurer to sell the bonds at the time, and with the notice, determined by the Treasurer, upon sealed bids, to the bidder whose bid will result in the lowest net interest cost on account of the bonds. This bill would instead authorize the Treasurer, for a public sale, to set forth the form and means of bids, and to sell to the bidder whose bid will result in the lowest interest cost to the state on account of the bonds. The bill would set forth the procedures the Treasurer may use to determine the lowest interest cost to the state, including the net interest cost of each bid, or the true interest cost of each bid, as defined. (7) Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, participating counties, and the State Public Works Board to acquire, design, and construct local jail facilities approved by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) . Existing law authorizes the State Public Works Board to issue revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes in the amounts of $365,771,000 and $854,229,000, in 2 phases, to finance the acquisition, design, and construction, and a reasonable construction reserve, of approved local jail facilities, as specified. Existing law authorizes the State Public Works Board to issue revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes in the amount of $500,000,000 to finance the acquisition, design, and construction, and a reasonable construction reserve, of approved adult local criminal justice facilities, as defined. The funds derived from those revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes are continuously appropriated for the purposes described above. This bill would decrease the authorization for revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes in the first phase from $365,771,000 to $340,866,000 and increase the authorization of the 2nd phase from $854,229,000 to $870,074,000. The bill would also increase the authorization to be used for adult local criminal justice facilities from $500,000,000 to $509,060,000. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

Existing law provides that a provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees that requires the expenditure of funds does not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. This bill would approve provisions of a memorandum of understanding entered into between the state employer and State Bargaining Unit 6, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, that require the expenditure of funds, and would provide that these provisions will become effective even if these provisions are approved by the Legislature in legislation other than the annual Budget Act. The bill would provide that provisions of the memorandum of understanding approved by this bill that require the expenditure of funds will not take effect unless funds for those provisions are specifically appropriated by the Legislature, and would require the state employer and the affected employee organization to meet and confer to renegotiate the affected provisions if funds for those provisions are not specifically appropriated by the Legislature. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Budget Act of 2014 appropriated specified amounts from the General Fund for the support of state government. This bill would appropriate $521,541,114 from the General Fund and $96,000,000 from unallocated special funds in augmentation of specified appropriations in the Budget Act of 2014 regarding augmentations for contingencies and emergencies and would require the Controller to allocate these additional amounts, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a Budget Bill.

Existing law makes it unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association to sell, or offer for sale, merchandise that advertises itself as being made or manufactured in the United States when any article, unit, or part of the merchandise has been entirely or substantially made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States. This bill would instead make it unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association to sell, or offer for sale, merchandise that advertises itself as being made or manufactured in the United States unless the merchandise has been all or virtually all made in the Unites States, and provides that "all or virtually all" has the same meaning as a specified policy statement of the Federal Trade Commission. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature in enacting the bill.

This measure would urge the 114th Congress to reauthorize and fund the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.

Existing law requires the collection of fees for providing certified copies of vital records, including marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records. Existing law provides for the establishment of county domestic violence program special funds for the purpose of funding local domestic violence programs. Certain fees payable at the time a marriage license or a certified copy of any of the above vital records is issued may be collected by the county clerks for deposit into these funds. This bill would, until January 1, 2021, authorize the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, upon making certain findings and declarations, to authorize an increase in fees for certified copies of certain vital records, up to $4. This bill would further authorize the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to make further increases in fees each year, as specified. This bill would require the fees to be allocated for purposes relating to domestic and family violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution. This bill would require the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, by July 1, 2017, to submit a report on funds received and expended in connection with the fee increases, and the outcome of activities associated with the act, to the Legislature. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Sacramento.

Existing federal law, until September 30, 2017, authorizes a state to allow specified labeled vehicles to use lanes designated for high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs) . Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to designate certain lanes for the exclusive use of HOVs. Under existing law, until January 1, 2019, or until federal authorization expires, or until the Secretary of State receives a specified notice, those lanes may be used by certain vehicles not carrying the requisite number of passengers otherwise required for the use of an HOV lane, if the vehicle displays a valid identifier issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) . Existing law authorizes the DMV to issue no more than 70,000 of those identifiers. This bill would increase the number of those identifiers that the DMV is authorized to issue to 85,000. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law prohibits an eligible person from being exempt from service as a trial juror by reason of, among other things, economic status, race, religion, sex, or for any other reason. This bill would specify that marital status is also a prohibited reason to exempt an eligible person from service as a trial juror.