The Corporation Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2020, would allow a credit against the taxes imposed under that law for 50% of monetary contributions to qualified K-College education scholarship organizations, as defined, to fund qualified K-College education scholarships, as defined. The bill would provide that the credit would not exceed $200,000 per taxpayer, that the credit would be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, and that the credit would have an aggregate cap of $10,000,000 for each calendar year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board and the State Department of Education to administer the credit, as specified. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Sponsored bills
The California Constitution prohibits a bill other than the Budget Bill from being heard or acted on by a committee or either house of the Legislature until the 31st day after the bill is introduced, unless the house dispenses with this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the journal, 34 of the membership concurring. This measure would add an additional exception to this 31-day waiting period by authorizing a committee to hear or act on a bill if the bill, in the form to be considered by the committee, has been in print and published on the Internet for at least 15 days. Existing provisions of the California Constitution prohibit either house of the Legislature from passing a bill until the bill with amendments has been printed and distributed to the Members. This measure would also prohibit either house of the Legislature from passing a bill until the bill, in the form to be voted on, has been made available to the public, in print and published on the Internet, for at least 72 hours preceding the vote. This requirement would not apply to specified urgency bills upon the submission by the Governor to the Legislature of a written statement that it is necessary to dispense with the requirement to address a state of emergency declared by the Governor.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2020, allow a credit in the amount of 20% of the monetary contributions made to a qualified tuition program, as defined, by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, not to exceed $500. This bill would provide for the payment of a credit amount in excess of tax liability upon an appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law establishes a joint legislative committee, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, to ascertain facts and make recommendations to the Legislature and the houses thereof concerning the state budget, the revenues and expenditures of the state, the organization and functions of the state, its departments, subdivisions, and agencies, and other matters. This bill would require, on or before April 1, 2015, the Department of Finance to submit a report to the Legislature on the progress of state agencies that have utilized performance-based budgeting practices since the implementation of a specified executive order. The California Constitution vests the Legislature with the power of appropriation and requires the Legislature to pass the budget bill by midnight on June 15 of each year. The bill would expressly state that the budget committees of each house of the Legislature may consider information from the report described above and that the Legislature may withhold or modify appropriations for state agencies that do not comply with the specified executive order.
Existing law requires each pupil completing grade 12 to satisfy certain requirements as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation from high school. These requirements include the successful passage of the high school exit examination and the completion of designated coursework in grades 9 to 12, inclusive. The coursework requirements include the completion of at least 2 courses in mathematics. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt additional coursework requirements. This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district that requires more than 2 courses in mathematics for graduation to award a pupil up to one mathematics course credit for successfully completing an approved computer science course, as provided.
Existing law requires the California School Finance Authority to administer the Charter School Facility Grant Program and provides that the grant program is intended to provide assistance with facilities rent and lease costs for pupils in charter schools. Existing law requires the authority, among other requirements, to inform charter schools of the grant program and to determine grant program eligibility based on specified factors, including, among other factors, a charter school's preference in admissions, the geographic location of the charter schoolsite, and pupil eligibility for free and reduced-price meals, as specified. This bill would require eligibility for the grant program to be expanded, as specified, if funds remain after charter schools that meet the existing free and reduced-price meals threshold are funded. The bill would provide that, with respect to this grant program, charter schools would be subject to the provision that generally imposes the requirement of an annual audit on local educational agencies.
Existing law establishes the "Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights," which, among other things, encourages a law enforcement agency assigned to investigate specified sexual assault offenses to perform DNA testing of rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence in a timely manner to assure the longest possible statute of limitations. Existing law also requires a law enforcement agency to inform victims of certain sexual assault offenses, if the identity of the perpetrator is in issue, if the law enforcement agency elects not to analyze DNA evidence within certain time limits. This bill instead would, with respect to specific sex offenses, encourage a law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the sexual assault offense occurred to submit sexual assault forensic evidence received by the agency on or after January 1, 2016, to the crime lab within 20 days after it is booked into evidence, and ensure that a rapid turnaround DNA program, as defined, is in place to submit forensic evidence collected from the victim of a sexual assault to the crime lab within 5 days after the evidence is obtained from the victim. The bill would also encourage the crime lab, with respect to sexual assault forensic evidence received by the lab on or after January 1, 2016, to process that evidence, create DNA profiles when able, and upload qualifying DNA profiles into the Combined DNA Index System as soon as practically possible, but no later than 120 days after initially receiving the evidence, or to transmit the sexual assault forensic evidence to another crime lab as soon as practically possible, but no later than 30 days after initially receiving the evidence, as specified. The bill would also revise the provisions requiring a law enforcement agency to inform victims of certain sexual assault offenses, to make the requirement applicable without regard to whether the identity of the perpetrator is in issue, if the law enforcement agency does not analyze DNA evidence, and to require those entities to notify the victims within 6 months of the time limits established under existing law. By imposing a higher level of service on local law enforcement agencies, 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.
Existing law requires all bond issues proposed by a county, city and county, city, district, or other political subdivision, or by any agency, department, or board thereof, to be submitted to the voters for approval. Existing law requires all official materials for the bond issue proposal to contain a statement of specified tax rate data. This bill would require the statement to include the best estimate from official sources of the total debt service that would be required to be repaid if all the bonds are issued and sold.
The Information Practices Act of 1977 requires a agency, among other things, to maintain in its records only personal information, as defined, that is relevant and necessary for a required or authorized purpose. Existing law requires a department or agency to enact and maintain a permanent privacy policy in adherence with that act that includes, but is not limited to, specified principles. This bill would require each department and agency to conspicuously post, as defined, its privacy policy on its Internet Web site. The bill would also make related nonsubstantive changes.