The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 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. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including, among other things, the harvesting of only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level. However, existing law permits the removal of trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter to achieve the goal of fuel reduction if the removal of any such tree is within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter. This bill would, instead, exempt the removal of trees less than 28 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level. However, the bill would permit the removal of trees less than 28 inches in stump diameter to achieve the goal of fuel reduction if the removal of any such tree is within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing only trees less than 28 inches in stump diameter.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, on or before September 1, 2011, to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, as defined, and requires that the fire prevention fee be adjusted annually using prescribed methods. Existing law requires the State Board of Equalization to collect the fire prevention fees, as prescribed, commencing with the 2011–12 fiscal year. Existing law establishes the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and prohibits the collection of fire prevention fees if, commencing with the 2012–13 fiscal year, there are sufficient amounts of moneys in the fund to finance specified fire prevention activities for a fiscal year. Existing law requires that the fire prevention fees collected, except as provided, be deposited into the fund and be made available, to the board and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for certain specified fire protection activities that benefit the owners of structures in state responsibility areas who are required to pay the fee. Existing law further requires the board, on and after January 1, 2013, to submit an annual written report to the Legislature on specified topics. This bill would repeal the above provisions relating to the fire prevention fees.
This measure would urge the President and Congress of the United States of America to repeal the excise tax on medical devices to protect the medical device industry and its consumers.
This measure would designate that January 20, 2014, be observed as the official memorial of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth and commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America. This measure would also recognize the anniversaries of the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington in connection with the advancement of civil rights.
This measure would urge Congress to pass and the President to sign into law the Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act (LIBERT-E Act) , and ensure that the American people are protected from massive invasions of their privacy.
Existing law establishes the public elementary and secondary schools and the system of public community colleges in this state, and provides for a system for their funding. Provisions of the California Constitution require that a minimum amount of aggregate funding, calculated as specified, be allocated to school districts and community college districts unless this requirement is suspended, as provided. Pursuant to existing statutes, school districts, community college districts, and other local educational agencies receive a portion of their funding through apportionments of state funds made in accordance with payment schedules. This measure would require that the total amount due for allocation to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and community college districts pursuant to the constitutional minimum funding requirement described above for a fiscal year, as estimated at the time of enactment of the annual Budget Act for that fiscal year, be apportioned pursuant to statute during that fiscal year, unless that minimum funding requirement is suspended for that fiscal year. The measure would require this estimate to be set forth in the Budget Bill passed by the Legislature. The measure would require apportionments of state aid to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and community college districts to be made no later than the times specified by the statutory payment schedule that was in effect during the 2000–01 fiscal year, except that the Legislature may require by statute that these apportionments be made earlier in the fiscal year.
Existing law requires certain veterans of a war in which the United States is or has been engaged, upon application and presentation to the Department of Parks and Recreation of certain proof, including proof of a disability or proof of being held captive as a prisoner of war, to be issued a pass entitling the bearer use of all facilities, including boat launching facilities, in units of the state park system. This bill would authorize the department to offer a veteran, as defined, or current active duty or reserve military personnel for the United States Armed Forces or the National Guard of any state, a reduced fee or free day use of the California state parks, as provided, on Memorial Day and Veterans Day if certain conditions are met, including that proper proof is supplied.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide coverage for all generally medically accepted cancer screening tests and requires those contracts and policies to also provide coverage for the treatment of breast cancer. Existing law imposes various requirements on contracts and policies that cover prescription drug benefits. This bill would prohibit an individual or group health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2015, that provides coverage for prescribed, orally administered anticancer medications used to kill or slow the growth of cancerous cells from requiring an enrollee or insured to pay, notwithstanding any deductible, a total amount of copayments and coinsurance that exceeds $200 for an individual prescription of up to a 30-day supply of a prescribed orally administered anticancer medication. The bill would provide that for a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that meets a specified federal definition of a high deductible health plan, this prohibition shall only apply once the enrollee's or insured's deductible has been satisfied for the year. The bill would authorize a health care service plan or health insurer, on January 1, 2016, and on January 1 of each year thereafter, to increase the $200 limit by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for that year. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2019. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows taxpayers, until January 1, 2015, to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of the California Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Research Fund, unless earlier repealed for failure to meet annual minimum contribution amounts. This bill would instead make these provisions effective for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2020.