Existing law provides for a public postsecondary education system in this state. This system consists of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes these institutions to require that mandatory systemwide fees and tuition, among other fees, be paid by enrolled students. Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education. This bill would require the Student Aid Commission and the Legislative Analyst to conduct a study of the effects of enacting, in future legislation, a Pay it Forward, Pay it Back Pilot Program and would designate the Legislative Analyst as the lead agency in charge of preparing the study. The study would evaluate a pilot program designed to provide an additional option for students to finance the costs of their education, by paying the costs of upfront tuition, fees, and room and board, for enrollment at institutions of higher education, for admitted resident students who sign a binding contract to, upon graduation, pay 2 to 4%, inclusive, of their annual adjusted gross incomes to the state or the institution for a specified number of years, as provided. The bill would further specify that the pilot program could vary by institution. This bill would require the study to, among other things, identify at least one campus of each segment of public higher education and one campus of a nonprofit private postsecondary educational institution to participate in the pilot program and establish an immediate source of funding for the first 15 to 20 years, inclusive, of the pilot program, as provided. The bill would require that the study be presented for consideration by the Legislature, and would require the Student Aid Commission to submit a report on the study to the Assembly Committee on Higher Education and the Senate Committee on Education on or before September 30, 2015. The bill would also make legislative findings and declarations related to these provisions.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would require the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, and any campus or research institution that is a part of, managed by, or affiliated with, any of those segments, to determine whether a proposed contract with a federal intelligence agency would involve the analysis or processing of personally identifiable information, as defined, and if so, would provide for the institution to require the federal intelligence agency to disclose whether the personally identifiable information was collected with the knowledge of the individuals to whom it pertains. The bill would require certain of those contracts to be approved by the governing board of the institution at an open and public meeting, and would require disclosure of the type of research and information sought by the federal intelligence agency. The bill would require annual disclosure by the institution of the number of contracts entered into where the federal intelligence agency sponsoring the contract imposes a limit or restriction on the publication of research. The bill would prohibit an institution from entering into a contract with a federal intelligence agency that imposes limits or restrictions on the publication of research if the contract would involve the analysis or processing of personally identifiable information collected without the knowledge of the individuals to whom it pertains.
Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, makes it unlawful to manufacture, sell, deliver, hold, or offer for sale, any food that is misbranded. Food is misbranded if its labeling does not conform to specified state and federal labeling requirements regarding nutrition, nutrient content or health claims, and food allergens. Violation of this law is a misdemeanor. This bill, beginning January 1, 2016, would require that any food, except as provided, offered for retail sale in the state be considered misbranded if it is entirely or partially genetically engineered, as defined, and that fact is not disclosed in a specified manner. The bill would prescribe labeling requirements for a raw agricultural commodity that is genetically engineered and packaged foods, as defined, containing some products of genetic engineering. The bill would impose these labeling requirements on manufacturers and retailers, as defined, of the commodities and foods. Because this bill would create new crimes by expanding the number of foods that could potentially be misbranded, it 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes the State Department of State Hospitals for the administration of state hospitals and provides for the involuntary confinement of certain individuals in those state hospitals, including defendants who have been found incompetent to stand trial and defendants found to be guilty of a crime, or who have plead not guilty by reason of insanity, and found to be insane at the time he or she committed the crime. Existing law requires a court, when a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity or if there is a question as to the defendant's mental competence, to appoint a specified number of psychiatrists or psychologists to examine the defendant. This bill would require the State Department of State Hospitals to establish, within the department, a pool of psychiatrists and psychologists with forensic skills and would require evaluation panels to be created from the pool of psychiatrists and psychologists, as specified. The bill would require the court to order an evaluation panel to evaluate a defendant who pleads not guilty by reason of insanity or who may be mentally incompetent. The bill would make conforming changes.
Existing law establishes procedures for voters to apply for a vote by mail ballot and use the ballot to vote in an election. Existing law allows a jurisdiction in which vote by mail ballots are cast to begin processing vote by mail ballots 29 days before the election. This bill would require the Secretary of State to provide guidance to local elections officials in performing specified tasks for the purpose of promoting and expanding the practice of early voting, as defined, consistent with specified statutory authority. The bill would define "early voting" to mean voting a vote by mail ballot in person at the office of the elections official or another location designated by the elections official either before or on the day of the election. The bill would allow county elections officials to apply for funding to provide early voting. If a county obtains funding sufficient to satisfy all associated costs, the bill would require an elections official, on at least one Saturday and Sunday on or after the date the elections official first delivers ballots to vote by mail voters for a statewide election, or for any other election as determined by the elections official based on voter demand, to allow voters to vote in the election by means of early voting at the early voting location designated for this purpose, provided that the location is accessible and complies with disability access requirements under federal and state law. The bill would permit the elections official to determine the hours of operation for the designated early voting location or locations for each Saturday and Sunday on which early voting is offered, provided that each location shall be open to voters for a minimum of 6 hours on each designated Saturday and Sunday. These provisions regarding Saturday and Sunday voting would not apply to elections conducted wholly by mail or to precincts in which each voter is furnished with a vote by mail ballot, as specified. This bill would become operative on January 1, 2016.
This measure would declare that the Legislature joins the County of Riverside in opposing base realignment and closure affecting the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division, and March Air Reserve Base.
Existing law establishes the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law authorizes the trustees to, by rule, require all persons to pay fees, rents, deposits, and charges for services, facilities, or materials provided by the trustees to such persons, and requires the trustees to control and expend all money appropriated for the support and maintenance of the California State University. This bill would appropriate $22,000,000 to the California State University for purposes of enrolling additional students. The bill would express legislative intent that the appropriated funds be used for specified matters and would include legislative findings and declarations related to student enrollment.
The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, provides that children from infancy to 13 years of age are eligible, with certain requirements, for child care and development services. The act requires the department to contract with local contracting agencies to provide for alternative payment programs, and authorizes alternative payment programs for services provided in licensed centers and family day care homes and for other types of programs that conform to applicable law. Existing law authorizes alternative payment programs and providers and other contractors providing child care development services to maintain records in electronic format if the original documents were created in electronic format, including, but not limited to, child immunization records. This bill would authorize contractors and alternative payment programs and providers to maintain records electronically regardless of whether the original documents were created in electronic format and would expand the type of records that can be maintained electronically to include, among other things, attendance sheets. The bill would authorize alternative payment programs and providers to retain a case record using either electronic or other types of alternative storage. The bill would authorize alternative payment programs and providers to use an electronic signature, as provided. The bill would require the above provisions relating to the electronic retention of records or electronic signatures to be in compliance with state and federal standards, as determined by the department.
Existing law establishes an adopted course of study for pupils in grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. This bill would establish, commencing with the 2015–16 school year and continuing through the 2017–18 school year, the Blended Learning Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Board of Education for the purpose of exploring various models of innovation and documenting best and promising practices in blended learning, as defined. The bill would authorize school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, or charter school management organizations to apply to the state board to participate in the pilot program, would require the state board to select 20 to 30 schools to participate in the program based on specified application criteria, and would authorize the state board to solicit and receive grants from private entities for purposes of funding the administration of the pilot program. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to contract with an educational research organization to study the pilot program, and to submit the results of the study to the state board no later than September 28, 2017. The bill would require the state board, no later than December 31, 2018, to submit a report to the Legislature on the results of the pilot program, as specified.
Existing law designates area agencies on aging as local units on aging in California, which are financially supported by a variety of sources, including federal funding, state and local government assistance, the private sector, and individual contributions. Existing law also provides for independent living centers, for the purpose of assisting individuals with disabilities in their attempts to live fuller and freer lives outside institutions, and achieve social and economic independence. This bill would continuously appropriate from the Federal Trust Fund, in the absence of enactment of the annual Budget Act by July 1 of a fiscal year, (1) to the California Department of Aging, the amount of federal funds contained in the Federal Trust Fund necessary to pay area agencies on aging for the administration of programs under their jurisdiction, and (2) to the Department of Rehabilitation, the amount of federal funds contained in the Federal Trust Fund necessary to pay independent living centers for the administration of programs under their jurisdiction, pending enactment of the Budget Act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.