Existing law requires the California State University and each community college district, and requests the University of California, with respect to each campus in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority for registration for enrollment to any member or former member of the Armed Forces of the United States, as defined, for any academic term attended at one of these institutions within 2 years of leaving active duty. This bill, until January 1, 2017, would require the California State University and each community college district, and requests the University of California, with respect to each campus in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority for registration for enrollment to foster youth or former foster youth, as defined. By revising requirements relating to student eligibility for priority registration at community college districts, the 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the California Control of Profits of Organized Crime Act, provides the procedure for the forfeiture of property and proceeds acquired through a pattern of criminal profiteering activity, as specified, and requires the prosecution to file a petition for forfeiture in conjunction with certain criminal charges. Under existing law, criminal profiteering activity is defined to include specified crimes, including human trafficking. This bill would include within the definition of criminal profiteering activity any crime in which the perpetrator induces, encourages, or persuades, or causes through force, fear, coercion, deceit, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, a person under 18 years of age to engage in a commercial sex act. Under existing law, in any case involving human trafficking of minors for purposes of prostitution or lewd conduct, or in any case involving abduction or procurement by fraudulent inducement for prostitution, in lieu of the distribution procedure described above, the proceeds shall be deposited in the Victim-Witness Assistance Fund to be available for appropriation to fund child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse victim counseling centers and prevention programs. This bill would include the proceeds from any case in which the perpetrator induces, encourages, or persuades, or causes through force, fear, coercion, deceit, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, a person under 18 years of age to engage in a commercial sex act, to be deposited in the Victim-Witness Assistance Fund to be available for appropriation to fund child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse victim counseling centers and prevention programs, as specified. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, part of the hazardous waste control law, requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations to establish a process by which chemicals or chemical ingredients in products may be identified and prioritized for consideration as being chemicals of concern and to adopt regulations to establish a process by which chemicals of concern may be evaluated. The department is prohibited from duplicating or adopting conflicting regulations for regulated product categories. A violation of the hazardous waste control law is a crime. The bill would enact the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act, which would, except as specified, prohibit, on and after July 1, 2013, the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any bottle or cup that contains bisphenol A, at a detectable level above 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) , if the bottle or cup is designed or intended to be filled with any liquid, food, or beverage intended primarily for consumption by children 3 years of age or younger. This prohibition would not apply to a product subject to a regulatory response by the department, on the date that a prescribed notice is posted regarding the department's adoption of the regulatory response. The bill would also require manufacturers to use the least toxic alternative when replacing bisphenolA in containers in accordance with this bill.
Existing laws governing the taxation of insurers, the Personal Income Tax Law, and the Corporation Tax Law, authorize, until January 1, 2012, a credit in an amount equal to 20% of a qualified investment, as defined, made into a community development financial institution, as defined, but not to exceed, in the aggregate amount under all those laws, $10,000,000 per year. The bill would extend the operation of the credits until January 1, 2017, would eliminate specified limitations on the aggregate certified investments, and would eliminate certain requirements regarding certificates issued to taxpayers. The bill would, until December 1, 2015, authorize the Insurance Commissioner to establish a California Organized Investment Network Advisory Board, as specified, to advise the California Organized Investment Network on the best methods of increasing insurance investments while providing fair returns to investors and social benefits to underserved communities, increase the level and number of contacts among executives in the insurance industry, and recommend programmatic guidelines to the California Organized Investment Network program. The bill would also authorize the California Organized Investment Network, in allocating qualified investment credits, when certain conditions are met, to prioritize applications for those credits, as specified.
The California Constitution provides that the Legislature may by statute prohibit retirement board investments if it is in the public interest to do so, and providing that the prohibition satisfies specified fiduciary standards. The California Public Divest from Iran Act prohibits the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) and the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) from investing public employee retirement funds in a company with business operations in Iran that is invested in or engaged in business operations with entities in the defense or nuclear sectors of Iran, or the company is invested or engaged in business operations with entities involved in the development of petroleum or natural gas resources of Iran, and that company is subject to sanctions under federal law, as specified, or the company is engaged in business operations with an Iranian organization that has been labeled as a terrorist organization by the United States government. Existing law requires the Board of Administration of PERS and the Teachers' Retirement Board of STRS to sell or transfer any investments in a company with business operations in Iran, until Iran is removed from the United States Department of State's list of countries that have been determined to repeatedly provide support for acts of international terrorism and the President of the United States determines and certifies that Iran has ceased its efforts to design, develop, manufacture, or acquire a nuclear explosive device or related materials and technology, as specified. Existing law requires the boards of PERS and STRS, on or before June 30, 2008, to determine the companies that are subject to divestment and to notify those companies and request that those companies take substantial action to curtail or end business operations, as described above, in Iran. Existing law provides that the board is not required to divest if the board determines that the company has taken substantial action in a 90-day period to curtail or end those operations. Existing law excepts certain investments from these requirements, including those in companies providing humanitarian relief and promoting health, education, journalistic, religious, or welfare activities. Existing law provides that nothing in those provisions requires the Board of Administration of PERS or the Teachers' Retirement Board of STRS to take action as described in those provisions unless the board determines, in good faith and based on specified information, that the action is consistent with the fiduciary responsibilities of the board as described in a specified provision of the California Constitution. This bill would prohibit the boards from investing in a company that has an investment of $20,000,000 or more in the energy sector of Iran, as defined, including in a company that provides oil or liquefied natural gas tankers, or products used to construct or maintain pipelines used to transport oil or liquefied natural gas. The bill would require the boards to review their investments annually and would require that the boards' determinations that a company is taking substantial actions to end or curtail its operations, as described above, be supported by findings adopted by a rollcall vote of the boards following a presentation and discussion of the findings in open session, during a properly noticed public hearing of the full board. The bill would require all proposed findings to be made public 72 hours before they are considered by the board, and that the board maintain a list of interested parties to be notified of proposed findings 72 hours before the board's consideration. The bill would require the findings and any public comments regarding the adopted findings and determinations to be included in a report to the Legislature. The bill would make the same notice, rollcall vote, and public hearing requirements for adopted findings and determinations of the boards regarding divestments that are found to disadvantage the retirement funds. The bill would eliminate the exception provided for investments in certain companies providing humanitarian relief and promoting health, education, journalistic, religious, or welfare activities. The bill would revise the circumstances under which these provisions would cease to be operative to conform with current federal law. The bill would make findings regarding the California Public Divest from Iran Act and would provide that its provisions are severable.
Existing law provides for the issuance of permits to practice public accountancy to certified public accountants and public accountants and for the regulation of these accountants by the California Board of Accountancy. Existing law authorizes a permitholder to have his or her license placed in an inactive status subject to certain limitations. Existing law imposes initial fees and renewal fees for these permits and for the inactive status and directs the deposit of these fees into the Accountancy Fund, from which funds other than penalty revenue are continuously appropriated. This bill would authorize the board to establish, by regulation, a system for the placement of a license on a retired status, upon application, for those accountants who are not actively engaged in the practice of public accountancy or any activity which requires them to be licensed. The bill would require the board to deny an application for a retired status license if the applicant's permit is canceled, suspended, revoked, otherwise restricted, or, commencing on a specified date, delinquent. The bill would prohibit the holder of a retired status license from engaging in any activity for which a permit is required. The bill would require the holder of a retired license to adhere to certain restrictions on the use of accountancy titles and other references. The bill would require the board to establish minimum qualifications for the restoration of a retired status license to active status, including, but not limited to, continuing education and the payment of a fee. The bill would provide for that application fee for a retired status license and for the restoration of a retired status license to active status to be fixed by the board in an amount not to exceed $250 and $1,000, respectively. By increasing that part of the revenue in the Accountancy Fund that is continuously appropriated, the bill would make an appropriation. Existing law prohibits the expiration, cancellation, forfeiture, or suspension of a license from depriving the board of jurisdiction to commence or proceed with any investigation of or action or disciplinary proceeding against a licensee, or to render a decision suspending or revoking the license. This bill would additionally specify that the current status of a retired status license shall not deprive the board of the above-described jurisdiction.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to oversee administration of the state's universal service programs, including the deaf and disabled programs. The existing deaf and disabled universal service program, among other things, requires the commission to design and implement a program to provide a telecommunications device capable of serving the needs of individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired, together with a single party line, at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to any subscriber who is certified as an individual who is deaf or hearing impaired. This bill would require the commission to expand the program to include assistance to individuals with speech disabilities, including assistance to purchase speech-generating devices, accessories, and mounting systems, and specialized telecommunications equipment. The bill would require the commission to design and implement a program to provide access to a speech-generating device to any subscriber who is certified as having a speech disability at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate. The bill would require the commission to adopt rules to implement the program by January 1, 2014. The bill would require the commission to evaluate options for controlling the program costs of providing speech-generating devices, and include information on any barriers to participation in the program by eligible subscribers, as part of an existing report to the Legislature. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the bill would require the commission to adopt rules, the violation of which would be a crime, the 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law regulates various subjects relating to the protection and preservation of personal health, including infant, child, and adolescent health, reproductive privacy, and the prevention of the practice of female genital mutilation. This bill would preclude a city, county, or city and county ordinance, regulation, or administrative action from prohibiting or restricting the practice of male circumcision, or the exercise of a parent's authority to have a child circumcised. This bill would provide that the Legislature finds and declares that the laws affecting male circumcision must have uniform application throughout the state. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California. Existing law requires the board to post certain information on the Internet regarding licensed physicians and surgeons, including, but not limited to, felony convictions, certain misdemeanor convictions, and whether or not a licensee is in good standing. Existing law requires that specified information remain posted for 10 years and prohibits the removal of certain other information. This bill would require the board to post notification of an expungement order and the date of the order within 6 months of receiving a certified copy of the expungement order from the licensee.
This measure would recognize October 2011 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and urge all Californians to take a stand against domestic violence.