Existing law, enacted as part of the Marine Life Management Act of 1998, generally establishes a comprehensive plan for the management of marine life resources. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Game to develop, and submit to the Fish and Game Commission for its approval, a fishery management master plan, and provides for the preparation and approval of fishery management plans, which form the primary basis for managing California's sport and commercial marine fisheries. This bill would state that it is the policy objective of the state to ensure the conservation, sustainable use, and, where applicable, restoration of California's forage species populations, including their habitats and associated water quality, for the benefit of all citizens of the state, and achieve ecosystem-based management of marine forage species that recognizes, prioritizes, accounts for, and incorporates the ecological services rendered by forage species, including the dependence of predator species on those forage species. The bill would define "forage species" and "ecosystem-based management" for those purposes. The bill would require new fishery management plans and amendments to existing fishery management plans for forage species completed after January 1, 2012, to be consistent with that policy, to the extent that scientific data is readily available for that purpose.
Existing law, the Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic Achievement Act (hereafter the Greene Act) , requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to design and implement a statewide pupil assessment program and requires school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to administer to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, certain achievement tests, including a standards-based achievement test pursuant to the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. Existing law authorizes a school district, at its option, to administer to pupils with limited English proficiency who are enrolled in any of grades 2 to 11, inclusive, a second achievement test in their primary language. This bill would authorize the State Department of Education to make these primary language assessments available to school districts and charter schools to assess their nonlimited-English-proficient and redesignated fluent-English-proficient pupils who are enrolled in a dual language immersion program and would require a school district or charter school that chooses to administer a primary language assessment pursuant to this authority to do so at its own expense and to enter into an agreement for that purpose with the state testing contractor, subject to the approval of the department. The bill would state legislative findings and declarations regarding primary language assessments.
Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority in state government with specified powers and duties relative to development and implementation of a high-speed train system. The authority is composed of 9 members, including 5 members appointed by the Governor. Existing law creates the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which consists of various state agencies, including the Department of Transportation. This bill would place the High-Speed Rail Authority within the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. The bill would provide for the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing to serve on the authority as a nonvoting, ex officio member. The bill would require the secretary to propose an annual budget for the authority upon consultation with the authority. The bill would require the members of the authority appointed by the Governor to be appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate. The bill would provide for the members that are appointed to have specified background or experience, as specified. Existing law provides that the terms of authority members expire every 4 years on December 31. This bill would vacate the membership of the authority and provide for the appointment or reappointment of members as of January 1, 2012, for staggered terms, as specified. This bill would thereafter provide that the terms expire every 4 years on December 31. Existing law provides for the authority to appoint an executive director to serve at the pleasure of the authority and who is exempt from civil service. This bill would provide that the executive director is subject to appointment with the advice and consent of the Senate. The bill would provide that an employment agreement for the executive director shall be agreed to but not executed until Senate confirmation. This bill would enact various conflict-of-interest provisions applicable to members of the authority and its staff, as specified, and would prohibit a person from serving on the authority in certain circumstances. This bill would enact other related provisions.
Existing law provides for various community development programs in the state. Executive Order S-05-10 created the Office of Economic Development in the Governor's office, for the purpose of coordinating economic development activities in the state. This bill would establish the California Promise Neighborhoods Initiative in the Office of Economic Development. It would require the office to establish 40 promise neighborhoods throughout the state, according to specified criteria, to maximize collective efforts within a community to improve the health, safety, education, and economic development of each neighborhood. It would require the office to use existing state resources and federal funds to implement these provisions, and authorize the office to accept financial support from other public or private sources for these purposes. It would require cities, counties, and school districts electing to participate in the initiative to provide the office with specified information. This bill would direct the Office of Economic Development to work with the California Health and Human Services Agency and counties to establish participation goals for specified programs, and it would also direct the office to explore methods for increasing participation rates. The bill would give cities, counties, schools, and school districts located in a promise neighborhood priority consideration for certain programs, grants, and funding.
Existing law authorizes the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency to, among other duties, engage in trade and foreign investment activities. This bill would additionally authorize the agency to coordinate international trade marketing and promotion activities. Existing law authorizes the secretary to convene a statewide business partnership for international trade and investment, to advise the secretary on business needs and priorities in that regard. This bill would also authorize the secretary to convene a statewide business partnership for international trade marketing and promotion no later than March 1, 2012, to advise the secretary on what role the state should play in international trade marketing and promotion.
Existing law establishes a matriculation process that brings a college and a student who enrolls for credit into agreement for the purpose of realizing the student's educational objectives. The agreement involves the responsibilities of both parties to attain those objectives through the college's established programs, policies, and requirements. This bill would require, to the extent that federal funding is provided, as specified, that military personnel and veterans be given a prior learning assessment to determine college-level learning gained in other than a college credit setting. The bill would require the assessment to meet the standards of the American Council on Education, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, or other equivalent standard for awarding academic credits.
Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, establishes standards for the use of personal services contracts. Any state agency proposing to execute a contract pursuant to these standards is required to notify the State Personnel Board of its intention. Any employee organization may request, within 10 days of notification, the State Personnel Board to review any contract proposed or executed pursuant to the law governing these contracts. The State Personnel Board, at the request of an employee organization that represents state employees, is also required to review the adequacy of any proposed or executed contract, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize, if the State Personnel Board either disapproves a proposed contract prior to execution or disapproves an executed contract based on the reviews described above, the department or agency submitting the contract to appoint a limited term employee, as defined, for the equivalent number of hours for each contractor position requested in the submitted contract. The bill would also require the department or agency to provide written notice of the appointment to the chairpersons of specified legislative committees.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a surcharge on all natural gas consumed in the state to fund certain low-income assistance programs, cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, and public interest research and development. Existing law requires a public utility gas corporation, as defined, to collect the surcharge from natural gas consumers, as specified, and to remit the moneys collected to the State Board of Equalization (state board) on a quarterly basis. Existing law requires persons consuming natural gas delivered by an interstate pipeline to pay the surcharge to the state board. Existing law requires every public utility gas corporation and every person consuming natural gas transported by a provider other than the public utility gas corporation to file a quarterly return with the state board in the form prescribed by the state board. The money from the surcharge is transmitted by the state board to the Treasurer for deposit in the Gas Consumption Surcharge Fund and is continuously appropriated to specified entities, including to the commission, or to an entity designated by the commission, to fund low-income assistance programs, cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, and public interest research and development not adequately provided by the competitive and regulated markets. This bill would require the commission to establish rates that are sufficient to fund the specified low-income assistance programs, cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, and public interest research and development, and would require the surcharges imposed on natural gas customers of an interstate gas pipeline to be equal to the rate component imposed upon the customers of a public utility gas corporation to fund those programs. The bill would require only persons consuming natural gas delivered by an interstate pipeline to pay the surcharge quarterly to the state board and require only those persons consuming natural gas transported by a provider other than the public utility gas corporation to file a quarterly return with the state board. A public utility gas corporation would continue to collect the surcharge to fund the specified programs, but would not remit the moneys collected to the state board. The bill would repeal existing provisions relieving public utility gas corporations from liability to collect the surcharges for specified uncollected and worthless accounts. The bill would make other conforming changes.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, among other things, prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and unless the plan has been approved. Existing law requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt certain forest practice rules and regulations to minimize the effects of erosion on water resources and lakes. This bill would require the department and the board, when implementing a pilot project to protect and restore the riparian zone in watersheds with listed anadromous salmonids, among other things, to provide the industry, agencies, and the public with the opportunity to participate in the development of the pilot project in a transparent manner and to ensure that the pilot project has certain goals. The bill would also require certain documents to be publicly available on the board's Internet Web Site and all documents that form the basis for the pilot projects to be posted on the department's Internet Web site. The bill would require the board, with the assistance of a technical advisory committee, to develop recommendations and pass regulations for providing electronic public access to all relevant documents, organized by the California Interagency Watershed Mapping Committee, that assist the department in administering timber harvest regulations with actions that protect and recover forest and watershed productivity and quality.
(1) The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 prohibits a person, with exceptions, from conducting surface mining operations unless a permit is obtained from, a reclamation plan is submitted to and approved by, and financial assurances for reclamation have been approved by, the lead agency for the operation. Existing law prohibits a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for a surface mining operation for gold, silver, copper, or other metallic minerals or financial assurances for the operation if the operation is located on, or within one mile of, a Native American sacred site and is located in an area of special concern, unless certain criteria are met. This bill would also prohibit a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for an aggregate products operation if the operation is located on or within 2,000 yards of the external boundaries of an Indian reservation and is on or within 5,000 yards of a Native American sacred site, and is on or within 4,000 yards of the Santa Margarita River or an aquifer that is hydrologically connected to the river, unless the tribe whose reservation is nearest the operation consents to the operation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing federal law provides for the federal Medicare Program, which is a public health insurance program for persons 65 years of age and older and specified persons with disabilities who are under 65 years of age. Existing law, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, and pursuant to a demonstration project or waiver of federal law, requires the department to establish pilot projects in up to 4 counties, to develop effective health care models to provide services to persons who are dually eligible under both the Medi-Cal and Medicare programs. Existing law requires the department to, not sooner than March 1, 2011, identify health care models that may be included in a pilot project, develop a timeline and process for selecting, financing, monitoring, and evaluating the pilot projects, and provide this timeline and process to certain committees of the Legislature. This bill would authorize the department to also establish these pilot projects pursuant to a request for proposal from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This bill would require the department to consult with stakeholders, including, among others, representatives of advocacy organizations, persons with disabilities, seniors, and representatives of legal services agencies that serve dual eligibles, on a regular basis throughout the development and implementation of the pilot projects.
Existing provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974 require certain persons employed by agencies to file annually a written statement of the economic interests they possess during specified periods. The act requires that state agencies promulgate a conflict of interest code that must contain, among other topics, provisions that require designated employees to file statements disclosing reportable investments, business positions, interests in real property, and income. The act requires that every report and statement filed pursuant to the act is a public record and is open to public inspection. This bill would, commencing on January 1, 2013, and continuing until January 1, 2019, require every designated employee and other person, except a candidate for public office, who is required to file a statement of economic interests to include, as a part of that filing, a compensation disclosure form that provides compensation information for the preceding calendar year, as specified. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2013, and continuing until January 1, 2019, require each agency to post on that agency's Internet Web site the information contained on the compensation disclosure form filed by a person required to file a statement of economic interests or a designated employee, and the written policy for the reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses. The bill would require the Controller, on or before March 1, 2013, to adopt emergency regulations for the implementation of these requirements, including the format of the compensation disclosure form. The bill would also require the Controller, on or before July 1, 2013, to recommend to the Governor and the Legislature methods for compiling the information contained on a person's or a designated employee's compensation disclosure forms in one or more publicly accessible databases, including specific proposals for establishment, operation, oversight, and funding, as specified. This bill would authorize the Bureau of State Audits to report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding the implementation and effectiveness of this bill. The bill would also authorize a district attorney or any interested person to commence an action by mandamus or injunction to enforce the provisions of the bill, as specified. Existing provisions of the act make a violation of the act subject to administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing those criminal penalties on persons who violate the provisions of the bill. The bill would express a legislative finding and declaration that it addresses the right of access by the people of the state to information concerning the conduct of the people's business. The bill would express a legislative finding and declaration that, to ensure the statewide integrity of local government, disclosure of compensation paid to public officials and designated employees is an issue of statewide concern and not a municipal affair and that, therefore, all cities, including charter cities, would be subject to the provisions of the bill. 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. 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 and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
