Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for administering various programs and services for the benefit of veterans. This bill would establish the California Veterans Services and Workforce Development Division within the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of coordinating and administering veterans assistance programs in the state, and would require the division to perform various functions and duties relating to the coordination and administration of veterans assistance programs, as specified. The bill would require the administrative and support staff responsible for the administration of the specified programs to be transferred from the Employment Development Department to the division, and would require the costs of the transfer to utilize existing resources of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(1) Existing law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally requires that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that jurisdiction's portion of the annual tax increment, as defined. Existing property tax law also reduces the amounts of ad valorem property tax revenue that would otherwise be annually allocated to the county, cities, and special districts pursuant to these general allocation requirements by requiring, for purposes of determining property tax revenue allocations in each county for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 fiscal years, that the amounts of property tax revenue deemed allocated in the prior fiscal year to the county, cities, and special districts be reduced in accordance with certain formulas. Existing law requires that the revenues not allocated to the county, cities, and special districts as a result of these reductions be transferred to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund in that county for allocation to school districts, community college districts, and the county office of education. Existing law requires the county auditor to decrease, for the fiscal adjustment period, as defined, the amount of ad valorem property tax revenue allocated to a county's Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund by the countywide adjustment amount, as defined, and requires the auditor to instead allocate this amount to the Sales and Use Tax Compensation Fund in the county. Existing law requires, during this same period, the county auditor to allocate moneys from the Sales and Use Tax Compensation Fund to cities and counties to reimburse these entities for local tax revenue losses resulting from a specified statute, as provided. Existing law requires these allocations to be made in a manner that ensures that the amount of ad valorem property tax revenue allocated to cities, counties, and special districts pursuant to specified statutes is not reduced. This bill would, for the 2012–13 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, if there is not enough ad valorem property tax revenue that is otherwise required to be allocated to a county Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund for the county auditor to complete the decreases required during the fiscal adjustment period, require the county auditor to calculate an amount, as specified, and to submit a claim to the Controller for that amount. This bill would require the Controller, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to deposit the amount of the claim into the Sales and Use Tax Compensation Fund, and would require the county auditor to allocate that amount among the county and to each city in the county. (2) The Vehicle License Fee (VLF) Law establishes, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state. Beginning with the 2004–05 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, existing law requires that each city, county, and city and county receive a vehicle license fee adjustment amount (VLFAA) , as defined, from a Vehicle License Fee Property Tax Compensation Fund (VLFPTCF) that exists in each county treasury. Existing law requires that these amounts be funded from ad valorem property tax revenues otherwise required to be allocated to educational entities. This bill would, for the 2012–13 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, if there is not enough ad valorem property tax revenue that is otherwise required to be allocated to educational entities for the county auditor to make the VLFAA payments, require the county auditor to allocate to the VLFPTCF a specified amount of ad valorem property tax revenue, that is not required to be allocated under a specified statute, to an elementary, high school, or unified school district. This bill would require the county auditor, if there is still not enough ad valorem property tax revenue to make the VLFAA payments, to submit a claim to the Controller for the remaining amount necessary to make those payments. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the Controller to deposit the amount of the claim into the VLFPTCF, and would require the county auditor to allocate that amount in the manner provided by the existing payment provisions. (3) By imposing additional duties upon local tax officials with respect to the allocation of ad valorem property tax revenues, 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.(4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes an education funding system under which the Superintendent of Public Instruction apportions to each qualifying school district state aid funds in an amount not to exceed its revenue limit, an amount that is largely based on the school district's average daily attendance, which is computed as specified. Existing law authorizes specified school districts to calculate their revenue limits in a different manner if the school district includes a necessary small high school, which is defined as a high school with an average daily attendance of less than 301 that meets prescribed conditions. Existing law also authorizes a school district that includes a necessary small high school to include average daily attendance in grades 7 and 8 and the instructors of grade 7 and 8 pupils in the calculation of average daily attendance and number of certificated employees employed in the 2011–12 fiscal year if the school district included average daily attendance in grades 7 and 8 and the instructors of grade 7 and 8 pupils in the calculation of average daily attendance and certificated employees employed in the 2010–11 fiscal year. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the Superintendent provide the Legislature with a report by February 1, 2013, recommending revisions to the definition of necessary small schools and reforms to the formula for funding necessary small schools. The bill would instead authorize a school district that includes a necessary small high school to include average daily attendance in grades 7 and 8 and the instructors of grade 7 and 8 pupils in the calculation of average daily attendance and number of certificated employees employed in the 2012–13 fiscal year if the school district included average daily attendance in grades 7 and 8 and the instructors of grade 7 and 8 pupils in the calculation of average daily attendance and certificated employees employed in the 2011–12 fiscal year. The bill would require a school district that chooses to include the average daily attendance in grades 7 and 8 and the instructors of grade 7 and 8 pupils, as described above, to pursue any funding deferral exemptions it may be eligible for. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires persons convicted of specified sex offenses to register with local authorities for life while residing, located, attending school, or working in California. Willful failure to register, as required, is a misdemeanor, or a felony, depending on the underlying offense. Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of various community care and child care facilities by the State Department of Social Services. This bill would prohibit a person required to register under the act from residing, except as specified, working, or volunteering in, among other places, foster homes or facilities licensed by the State Department of Social Services or a county child welfare services agency. Violation of this prohibition would be a misdemeanor. The bill would also authorize a juvenile court to waive this prohibition if the residence involved is that of a noncustodial parent, relative, or nonrelative extended family member who receives the placement of a child who is or may be declared a dependent of the court and the court finds that placing the child in that residence is in the child's best interest. This bill would require specified officials who register a person under the act to make a specified determination regarding the registration, notify the person when his or her registered residence or place of employment would be prohibited by the bill, and take appropriate law enforcement action, or make a specified notification, including notifying the county child welfare agency and the Department of Social Services, as specified, if the person registers at a prohibited residence or place of employment. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, by January 1, 2014, provide specified public officers and persons or entities that register a person who is required to register with the addresses or other equivalent data of, among other things, foster homes or facilities that serve children under 18 years of age and that are licensed by the department or a county child welfare agency. This bill would also require specified investigators of the State Department of Social Services to compare the residence and employment addresses of persons required to register under the act against the addresses of certain facilities, including, among others, foster homes or facilities licensed by the department or a county child welfare agency. The bill would require investigators to immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, make a report, as specified, to the appropriate county child welfare agency and the State Department of Social Services if those addresses match. (2) Existing law, the California Child Day Care Act, requires the Director of Social Services to annually publish and make available certain lists covering all licensed child day care facilities, other than small family day care homes, as defined, and the services for which each facility has been licensed. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to prevent the use of lists containing names, addresses, and other identifying information of small family day care homes, except for specified purposes, including, among others, providing the names and addresses of these small family day care homes to certain state agencies, programs, organizations, or plans. This bill would include a local law enforcement agency among the agencies that may receive lists containing the names, addresses, and other identifying information of small family day care homes, as specified. This bill would create a new crime and impose additional duties upon local officials, thereby creating 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 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.
Existing law requires the charge of an official court reporter fee, in addition to any other fee required in civil actions or cases, for each proceeding lasting more than one hour, in an amount equal to the actual cost of providing that service per 12 day of services to the parties, on a pro rata basis, for the services of an official court reporter on the first and each succeeding judicial day those services are provided, as specified. Fees collected pursuant to this provision may be used only to pay for services of an official court reporter in civil proceedings. Existing law further requires that, whenever a daily transcript is ordered in a civil case requiring the services of more than one reporter, the party requesting the transcript pay a fee equal to the per diem rate for pro tempore reporters in addition to any other required fee. This bill would additionally require an official court reporter fee to be charged for each proceeding lasting less than an hour, and would authorize the court in which an official court reporter fee was collected to retain that fee. The bill would also authorize the court collecting a per diem fee for a daily transcript to retain that fee to offset the cost of the additional court reporter. Existing law establishes filing fees in specified civil proceedings. Existing law further establishes the Trial Court Trust Fund and requires that $30 of the amount distributed to the Trial Court Trust Fund from specified filing fees be used for the services of an official court reporter in civil proceedings. This bill, instead, would require that $30 of specified filing fees be retained by the court in which the fee was collected and be used to provide the services of an official court reporter in civil proceedings. The bill would also require, in courts where official court reporting services in civil proceedings are not provided, that all fees to be retained pursuant to these provisions instead revert to the Trial Court Trust Fund for redistribution to trial courts providing official court reporting services in civil proceedings, as specified, and that these redistributed funds be used to provide the services of an official court reporter in civil proceedings.
(1) Existing law provides that licenses provided for in a specified article within the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act authorize the license holder to exercise the rights and privileges specified in that article. This bill would provide that the licenses provided for in the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act authorize the license holder to exercise the rights and privileges specified in that act. (2) This bill would also make technical and conforming changes.
Existing law establishes the State Court Facilities Construction Fund for the planning, design, construction, rehabilitation, renovation, replacement, leasing, or acquisition of state court facilities. Existing law levies a state court construction penalty, as specified, upon every fine, penalty, and forfeiture imposed and collected for all criminal offenses and all parking offenses for which a parking penalty, fine, or forfeiture is imposed. Moneys deposited in the county treasury under those provisions must be transmitted to the Controller for deposit in the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. Existing law further requires that any amounts required to be transmitted by a county to the Controller under these provisions be remitted no later than 45 days after the end of the month in which the penalties were collected. Any remittance made later than this time is considered delinquent and is subject to specified penalties. Upon receipt of a delinquent payment, the Controller is required to calculate a penalty on the delinquent payment by multiplying the amount of the delinquent payment at a daily rate equivalent to 112% per month for the number of days the payment is delinquent. Existing law requires the county to pay the penalty amount calculated pursuant to these provisions to the Controller, as specified, and requires the Controller to deposit these moneys in the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. This bill would require the Controller to calculate the interest on the delinquent payment, as specified, and would revise the formula for calculating the penalty. The bill would also require a county, city and county, or court to pay the interest or penalty amounts calculated under these provisions, as specified, to the State Court Facilities Construction Fund. The bill would authorize the Controller to permit a county, city and county, or court to pay the interest or penalty amounts under a payment schedule if the interest or penalty amount causes a hardship to that entity. Further, the bill would require that payment be made by the entity responsible for the error or other action that caused the failure to pay, as determined by the Controller in a notice given to that party by the Controller, and would define that entity as including a party that collects the funds but is not responsible for remitting them to the state if that party failed to provide or delayed providing the remitting party with information necessary for remitting the funds. The bill also provides that these changes apply to all delinquent payments for which the Controller has not issued a final audit before January 1, 2013.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, or sexual orientation. This bill would include "family caregiver status" as an additional basis upon which the right to seek, obtain, and hold employment cannot be denied.
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide support and services to individuals with developmental disabilities. The services and supports to be provided to a regional center consumer are contained in an individual program plan (IPP) , developed in accordance with prescribed requirements. Existing law requires the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to, among other responsibilities, form a standing Employment First Committee to identify strategies and recommend legislative, regulatory, and policy changes to increase integrated employment, as defined, self-employment, and microenterprises for persons with developmental disabilities, as specified. This bill would define competitive employment, microenterprises, and self-employment for these purposes. This bill would require each regional center planning team, when developing an individual program plan for a transition age youth or working age adult, to consider a specified Employment First Policy. The bill would also require regional centers to ensure that consumers, beginning at 16 years of age, and, where appropriate, other specified persons, are provided with information about the Employment First Policy, about options for integrated competitive employment, and about services and supports, including postsecondary education, available to enable the consumer to transition from school to work, and to achieve the outcomes of obtaining and maintaining integrated competitive employment. The bill would authorize the department to request information from regional centers on current and planned activities related to the Employment First Policy.
The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act authorizes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, governed by a board of directors, to make loans and provide other assistance to public and private entities for various types of economic development projects, among other things. The activities of the bank under these provisions are funded from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Fund, which is continuously appropriated for these purposes. This bill would authorize the board to enter into development and financing agreements for projects within the California-Mexico border region, as defined. The bill would authorize the bank to establish and participate in a binational financing authority to facilitate and support the economic development of communities within the border region. The bill would require the bank to develop guidelines for the selection, review, and approval of border region projects and authorize the bank to issue bonds, the proceeds of which would be deposited in the Binational Development Account, which the bill would create within the fund. By expanding the purposes for which a continuously appropriated fund may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would state that certain provisions of this bill shall become operative only if the Executive Director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank determines that there are sufficient funds available to implement those provisions and submits a letter to the Legislature to that effect.
The California Constitution allows the Legislature, by statute, to authorize cities and counties to provide for bingo games for charitable purposes. Existing law authorizes cities and counties to permit eligible nonprofit organizations to conduct bingo games and remote caller bingo games, as defined, for charitable purposes pursuant to an ordinance that allows those games to be conducted in accordance with specified requirements. Existing law sets forth a model ordinance for a city, county, or city and county to authorize remote caller bingo, and prohibits an organization from conducting remote caller bingo more than 2 days per week. Existing law requires an organization authorized to conduct remote caller bingo games to provide at least 30 days' advance written notice of its intent to conduct a remote caller bingo game. This bill additionally would permit a city, county, or city and county to amend an existing local ordinance that allows bingo games to be conducted within that jurisdiction, by resolution, to permit the conduct of remote caller bingo games pursuant to that ordinance, as specified. The bill would include among those organizations eligible to conduct remote caller bingo a charitable organization affiliated with a community college district. The bill would prohibit an organization from conducting remote caller bingo more than 2 days per week, but would permit an organization to hold one additional game, at its election, in each calendar quarter. The bill would require an organization authorized to conduct remote caller bingo games to provide at least 10 days' advance written notice of intent to conduct a remote caller bingo game on a form prescribed by the city, county, or city and county, and to provide notice within 24 hours if the location of the remote caller bingo game changes. The bill also would repeal the model ordinance. Existing law requires the California Gambling Control Commission to regulate remote caller bingo, including licensure and operation. Among other things, any person who conducts a remote caller bingo game and any person who manufactures or otherwise provides equipment for use in the playing of a remote caller bingo game are required to be licensed. Existing law also requires the commission to approve all equipment used for remote caller bingo in advance, to monitor operation of the transmission and other equipment used for remote caller bingo, and to monitor the game. This bill would delete all state licensure requirements for the conduct of remote caller bingo, and would, instead, require the local licensing entity to provide the name of the licensee, term of the license, and local contact information to the commission, as specified. The bill would require the commission to post this information on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the commission or the department to maintain a registry of all organizations registered to conduct remote caller bingo and the dollar amount received by those organizations to repay a specified loan to the Charitable Bingo Mitigation Fund. The bill would authorize the commission or the department to charge a fee not to exceed $500, to be deposited into the California Bingo Fund, to cover the actual costs to administer and enforce these provisions, and would authorize the commission or the department to adopt regulations in that regard. The bill would make other technical and conforming changes relating to the duties of the department and the commission, including setting forth procedures for a city, county, or city and county, as the local licensing entity, to request a background check from the department. The bill would authorize the department to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of processing the background check, and would provide for the deposit of that fee revenue into the Fingerprint Fees Account, to be continuously appropriated to the department for that cost. By providing for a continuous appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill also would require the department to conduct a background investigation of each management company and to conduct field enforcement, as specified. The bill would delete the requirement that the commission approve all equipment used for remote caller bingo in advance, but would require the city, county, or city and county to monitor operation of the transmission and other equipment used for remote caller bingo and to monitor the game. The bill would authorize the commission or the department to audit the books and records of a licensed organization or a management company contracted by a licensed organization to conduct remote caller bingo at any time and to charge a fee for the audit. The bill would require the audit information to be made available to the public upon request. Additionally, the bill would require a management company to retain an independent California certified public accountant to conduct an annual audit of its books and records, and would subject a management company to a civil penalty for filing false information with the commission or the department. The bill would permit an authorized organization to contract with a management company to provide business services, but would require the organization to give notice of the contract to the city, county, or city and county and to meet other requirements, as specified. The bill would require the live, physical calling and broadcast of a remote caller bingo game to be conducted from a jurisdiction that authorizes by local ordinance the conduct of remote caller bingo games. This bill would make additional changes relating to the requirements for cosponsoring remote caller bingo games, and would simplify other procedures and requirements applicable to the conduct of remote caller bingo games. Under existing law, any violation of the remote caller bingo provisions described above is a misdemeanor, punishable as specified. This bill would expand the scope of an existing crime by imposing different requirements for the conduct of remote caller bingo, thereby creating a state-mandated local program. Existing law required the California Gambling Control Commission to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2012, on the fundraising effectiveness and regulation of remote caller bingo. A loan from the Gambling Control Fund to the California Bingo Fund for the startup costs relating to remote caller bingo is required to be repaid within 5 years after the date of the loan. This bill would delete that reporting requirement, and would delete the requirement that the startup loan be repaid within 5 years. The bill would require the department and the commission, on or before October 1, 2015, to report their findings to the Legislature, as to whether continuation of the remote caller bingo program and state oversight of that program is warranted based on specified findings. The bill would repeal the remote caller bingo program as of January 1, 2017. Existing law establishes the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund, administered by the California Gambling Control Commission, for the purpose of making payments to specified nonprofit organizations that, as of July 1, 2008, used electronic devices other than card-minding devices to conduct bingo games. Existing law provides for a $5,000,000 loan from the accrued interest in the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund to the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund to make the mitigation payments described above. To reimburse the Special Distribution Fund, existing law requires nonprofit organizations that conduct a remote caller bingo game to pay the commission an amount equal to 5% of the gross revenues of each remote caller bingo game played until the full advanced amount, as specified, is reimbursed. This bill would require the commission to post information relating to the payments described above on its Internet Web site. Existing law authorizes players who are physically present at a bingo game to use hand-held, portable card-minding devices, as specified, that are approved prior to use by the California Gambling Control Commission. Additionally, the commission is required to license persons or entities that manufacture, supply, or service card-minding devices and related equipment, and may inspect and prohibit the use of any card-minding devices that are noncompliant. Existing law requires the commission to adopt regulations concerning remote caller bingo and card-minding devices. This bill would repeal these provisions relating to card-minding devices and the duties of the commission. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The State Building Construction Act of 1955 requires that all new public buildings, as specified, be equipped with all energy efficiency measures, materials, and devices that are feasible and cost-effective, as defined, over the life of the building or the life of the energy efficiency measure, whichever is less, and sets forth the duties of the Department of General Services in this regard. This bill would additionally require the department to deem a contract for the purchase of an energy efficiency information technology product or service to be a no-cost or net-neutral cost contract when specified conditions are met. It would require the department to issue a nonmandatory master services agreement permitting owners, operators, and tenants of state facilities to procure a wide range of energy efficiency information technology products and services according to specified criteria. It would require the department to post on its Internet Web site, as specified, a link to a document entitled "Record of Energy-Saving Projects" that contains specified information.
