(1) Existing law authorizes the Controller, upon approval of a claim for the postponement of ad valorem property taxes, to directly pay a county tax collector for the property taxes owed by the claimant, as provided. Existing law establishes the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the Controller for specified purposes, including disbursements relating to the postponement of property taxes pursuant to the Property Tax Postponement Law. Existing law requires the Controller to, on June 30, 2018, and on June 30 each year thereafter, transfer any moneys in the fund in excess of $15,000,000 to the General Fund. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the Controller transfer any moneys in the fund in excess of $15,000,000 to the General Fund. The bill would authorize the Director of Finance, upon determination by the Controller that there are insufficient moneys in the fund to cover the cost of all approved claims for the postponement of property taxes, to authorize a transfer from the General Fund to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund in an amount necessary to pay those claims, as specified. By authorizing the expenditure of additional General Fund moneys for the purpose of the property tax postponement program, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law requires that all sums paid for the postponement of property taxes be secured by a lien in favor of the state. In the case of a lien on real property for this purpose, existing law requires, among other things, the recorder for the county in which the real property is subject to the lien to provide a copy of the notice of lien to the county tax collector. This bill would additionally require the county recorder to provide a copy of the notice of lien to the county assessor. (3) Existing law establishes a formula for calculating the interest on a payment made by the Controller for postponed property taxes from the time a payment is made. Under existing law, for purposes of this provision, a payment is deemed to be made at the time an electronic funds transfer is made by the Controller to the tax collector or the delinquency date of the respective tax installment, whichever is later. Existing law, in the event of willful neglect, authorizes an electronic funds transfer for that current fiscal year to be used to pay delinquent taxes only if accompanied by sufficient amounts to pay all of the delinquent penalties, costs, fees, and interest. Existing law, if a denial of a claim for postponement is reversed on appeal, requires the Controller to electronically transfer funds to the county. This bill would instead deem a payment to be made at the time a payment is made by the Controller to the tax collector or the delinquency date of the respective tax installment, whichever is later. The bill would instead authorize a payment from the Controller to be used to pay delinquent taxes under the circumstances described above. The bill would eliminate the requirement that funds be transferred electronically if a denial of a claim for postponement is reversed on appeal. The bill would also make various conforming changes. (4) Existing law requires the Controller to reduce the amount of the obligation secured by the lien against the real property by the amount of any payments received for that purpose and by specified amounts paid by the Franchise Tax Board or by certain other authorized amounts. This bill would require that payments received for the reduction of the obligation be applied first to any interest due on the loan, 2nd to the principal property tax amount, and finally, if there is any remaining balance, to administrative fees. (5) Existing law authorizes recordation of certain documents, including a release, discharge, or subordination of a lien for postponed property taxes, without acknowledgment, certificate of acknowledgment, or further proof. This bill would delete the reference to the subordination of a lien for postponed property taxes from the above-described list of documents that may be recorded without acknowledgment, certificate of acknowledgment, or further proof. (6) Existing law requires, with respect to a claimant whose property taxes are paid by a lender from an impound, trust, or other specified type of account, the tax collector to notify the auditor of the claimant's name and address, and the duplicate amount of money the Controller transferred to the tax collector via an electronic fund transfer. Existing law requires the county auditor, treasurer, or disbursing officer to send a check, in the amount of money based on the electronic transfer by the Controller, to the Controller within 60 days of the replicated payment. This bill would require the county tax collector to notify the auditor, as described above, upon receipt of the payment by the Controller. The bill would require the tax collector to maintain a record of the fact that taxes on the property have been postponed and, in the case of the secured roll, authorize entry of this information in that portion of the roll which has been designated for tax default information. The bill would require the county auditor, treasurer, or disbursing officer to refund a replicated payment to the claimant, instead of the Controller. (7) Existing law, upon receipt of a "notice of lien for postponed property taxes" from the Controller, requires the tax collector or the assessor, whichever is applicable, to immediately enter on the assessment records applicable to the property the fact that the taxes on the property have been postponed and the Controller's identification number and to notify the Controller of a subsequent change in ownership status, as provided. This bill would instead require the assessor to maintain a record of the fact that the taxes on the property have been postponed and the Controller's identification number and to notify the Controller as described above. (8) Existing law requires, for purposes of the Gonsalves-Deukmejian-Petris Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance Law, that all losses and nonexpenses be converted to zero for the purpose of determining whether the homeowner meets the property tax postponement requirement. This bill would instead require that all losses and nonexpenses be converted to zero, as specified above, for the purposes of the Property Tax Postponement Law. (9) Existing law requires that a claimant for property tax postponement, generally, be an individual who is a member of the household, is either an owner-occupant, tenant stockholder occupant, or possessory interestholder occupant of the residential dwelling as to which postponement is claimed, and is either 62 years of age or older, blind, or disabled. With respect to blind and disabled claimants, existing law requires that the claimant be blind or disabled, as specified, at the time of application or on December 10 of the fiscal year for which postponement is claimed, whichever is earlier. This bill would instead require, for blind and disabled claimants, that the claimant be blind or disabled at the time of application or on February 10 of the fiscal year for which postponement is claimed. (10) Existing law requires that a claim for postponement of property taxes be for the residential dwelling, defined generally as the principal place of residence of the claimant and so much of the land surrounding it as is reasonably necessary for the use of the dwelling as a home that is owned by the claimant alone or by the claimant and other specified individuals. Existing law authorizes an applicant, defined as including a public agency, an entity acting on behalf of and with the written consent of a public agency, or a financial institution for specified purposes, to assist property owners in financing the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, or energy or water efficiency improvements through the issuance of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds that are secured by a voluntary contractual assessment on property or a special tax on property. This bill would exclude from a residential dwelling eligible for the property tax postponement program any residential dwelling that is subject to a PACE bond. (11) This bill would make various technical changes related to the property tax postponement program, including updating statutory references to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund and deleting obsolete references to certificates of eligibility and postponement for mobilehomes. (12) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 20583 of the Revenue and Taxation Code proposed by SB 909 that would become operative if this bill and SB 909 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (13) By changing the duties of local officials with respect to the administration of the property tax postponement program, 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.
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Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would establish the California Promise, which would require specified minimum numbers of campuses of the California State University to establish a California Promise program by which the campus would enter into a pledge with a student who satisfies specified criteria to support the student in earning a baccalaureate degree within 4 academic years, or if the student is a community college transfer student who earned an associate degree for transfer, within 2 academic years, of the academic year of the student's first year of enrollment, as specified. The bill would require the trustees to submit, by July 1, 2021, a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature that includes specified information about students who participate in the program and a summary description of significant differences in implementation of the program by campuses. The bill would require the trustees to submit recommendations, by March 15, 2017, to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature regarding potential financial incentives that could benefit students who participate in the program. The bill's provisions would be repealed as of January 1, 2026.
Existing law establishes the Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, within the State Treasury administered by the Secretary of State, the sole purpose of which is to provide restitution to victims of corporate fraud. Existing law provides that an aggrieved person who obtains a final judgment, as specified, against a corporation based upon the corporation's fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit, made with intent to defraud, may file an application with the Secretary of State for payment from the fund for the amount unpaid on the judgment that represents the awarded actual and direct loss to the claimant in the final judgment. This bill would additionally apply those provisions if an aggrieved person obtains a criminal restitution order against an agent, as defined, of a corporation based upon those same circumstances. The bill would also make conforming changes. By allowing for additional payments to be made from the Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires the application filed with the Secretary of State to include specified information and documentation, and imposes criminal penalties for the filing of any documents that are false or untrue or contain any willful, material misstatements of fact. This bill would require, if the final judgment is a criminal restitution order, the claimant to provide the charging document and the restitution order, and if the defendant is an agent, documentation showing the defendant named in the restitution order is an agent as defined in this bill. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires, if, at any time, the money deposited in the Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund is insufficient to satisfy any duly authorized award or offer of settlement, the Secretary of State to, when sufficient money has been deposited in the fund, satisfy the unpaid award or offer of settlement, plus specified accumulated interest. This bill would eliminate the requirement to pay that specified accumulated interest. 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 imposes a maximum civil penalty of $25,000 on a person who discharges various pollutants or other designated materials into the waters of the state. This bill would impose an additional civil penalty of not more than $10 for each gallon or pound of material discharged. The bill would require that the civil penalty be reduced for every gallon or pound of the illegally discharged material that is recovered and properly disposed of by the responsible party. The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act establishes various civil penalties for conduct in connection with the intentional or negligent discharging of oil into waters of the state. Existing law requires civil and criminal penalties provided in the act to be separate from, and in addition to, and to not supersede or limit, any and all other remedies, civil or criminal. This bill would prohibit a person from being subject to both a civil penalty described above and a civil penalty imposed pursuant to the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act for the same act or failure to act.
Existing 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. Those laws provide various exemptions from those taxes. This bill, on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, would exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tampons, sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups. 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 law authorizes districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws. Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code provides that the state will 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.
Existing law generally regulates fertilizer materials and provides for the licensure of individuals who manufacture or distribute fertilizing materials. Existing law defines various terms for the purpose of carrying out these provisions, including, but not limited to, auxiliary soil and plant substances. Existing law lists specific chemical or biological substances or mixtures of substances or devices included within the definition of auxiliary soil and plant substances and excludes commercial fertilizers, agricultural minerals, pesticides, soil amendments, and manures from the definition. This bill would include biochar, as defined, as a product intended to be used for influencing soils, plant growth, or crop or plant quality for the purposes of the definition of auxiliary soil and plant substances.
The California Seed Law (the seed law) regulates seed sold in California, and generally requires agricultural and vegetable seed that is sold in the state to be labeled in accordance with specified provisions. Specified penalties are prescribed for violating the provisions of the seed law. This bill would exclude from the labeling requirements of the seed law seed distributed or received by noncommercial seed sharing activity, as defined by the bill. The bill would authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to require any entity that conducts noncommercial seed sharing activity to provide notification of its activity on a form created by the secretary. The bill would state that the Legislature declares, among other things, that the seed law is intended to support noncommercial seed sharing activities. The bill would authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture to post on its Internet Web site information about noncommercial seed sharing activity.
This measure would designate a specified interchange on State Highway 101 in the County of Sonoma as the Police Officer Vilho Ahola Memorial Interchange. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
This measure would recognize the week of October 16, 2016, to October 22, 2016, inclusive, as Digital Citizenship Week.
This measure would proclaim September 28, 2016, as Parent Advocacy Day.