The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various exclusions from gross income, and allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law, including miscellaneous itemized deductions that are allowed only to the extent that the aggregate amount of those deductions exceeds 2% of adjusted gross income. This bill, upon appropriation of specified funds by the Legislature, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2019, would allow a deduction, not to exceed specified amounts, of the amount a qualified taxpayer, as defined, contributed in any taxable year to a homeownership savings account and would exclude from gross income any income earned on the moneys contributed to a homeownership savings account. The bill would provide that a qualified taxpayer may withdraw amounts from a homeownership savings account to pay for qualified homeownership savings expenses, defined as expenses paid or incurred in connection with the purchase of a principal residence in this state. The bill would provide that any amount withdrawn from that account that is not used for these expenses would be included as income for that taxpayer. The bill would define various terms for its purposes. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
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The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various deductions from gross income in computing adjusted gross income under that law, including deductions for payments to individual retirement accounts, alimony payments, and interest on educational loans. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, would allow a deduction in computing adjusted gross income for those amounts paid or incurred by a qualified first-time home buyer, as defined, during the taxable year for qualified home-buying expenses, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Article XIX of the California Constitution restricts the expenditure of revenues from taxes imposed by the state on fuels used in motor vehicles upon public streets and highways to street and highway and certain mass transit purposes. Existing law requires certain miscellaneous revenues deposited in the State Highway Account that are not restricted as to expenditure by Article XIX of the California Constitution to be transferred to the Transportation Debt Service Fund in the State Transportation Fund, as specified, and requires the Controller to transfer from the fund to the General Fund an amount of those revenues necessary to offset the current year debt service made from the General Fund on general obligation transportation bonds issued pursuant to Proposition 116 of 1990. This bill would, on July 1, 2019, delete the transfer of these miscellaneous revenues to the Transportation Debt Service Fund, thereby eliminating the offsetting transfer to the General Fund for debt service on general obligation transportation bonds issued pursuant to Proposition 116 of 1990. The bill, subject to a specified exception, would, on July 1, 2019, instead require the miscellaneous revenues to be retained in the State Highway Account and to be used solely for transportation expenditures consistent with the restrictions for expenditure of fuel tax revenues in Article XIX of the California Constitution. Existing law provides for the deposit of all moneys received by the Department of Motor Vehicles into the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund, which includes some miscellaneous revenues that are not restricted by Article XIX of the California Constitution. Item 2740-011-0044 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2017, in that regard, requires the Controller to transfer those miscellaneous revenues from the Motor Vehicle Account to the General Fund and estimates the amount of those revenues in the 2016–17 fiscal year at $84,044,000. This bill would repeal the above-referenced item of the Budget Act of 2017. The bill would require the Controller to transfer, from the General Fund to the Motor Vehicle Account, an amount equal to all revenues previously transferred from that account to the General Fund pursuant to this item. The bill, commencing in the 2017–18 fiscal year, would require all revenues in the Motor Vehicle Account that are not protected by Article XIX of the California Constitution to be used solely for transportation expenditures, as specified.
Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. Under existing law, the county is required to annually redetermine eligibility for CalWORKs benefits and, at the time of redetermination, require the family to complete a certificate of eligibility. Existing law additionally requires the county to redetermine recipient eligibility and grant amounts on a semiannual basis and requires the recipient to submit a semiannual report form during the first semiannual reporting period following the application or annual redetermination of eligibility. Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known in California as CalFresh, under which food assistance benefits are distributed to eligible individuals by the counties. Existing law requires, to the extent permitted by federal law, the department to implement the semiannual reporting system, including use of the semiannual report form, in the CalFresh program This bill would require the county to use either a prepopulated renewal form or a blank semiannual report form as the certificate of eligibility for the purposes of CalWORKs and CalFresh.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. For 2016, the adjusted gross income limit is $76,518 and $38,259, respectively. This bill would, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, contingent upon a specified appropriation, increase this credit for a qualified renter to $240 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less, and to an amount equal to $120 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust the increased adjusted gross income amount for inflation. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law creates the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) , governed by an elected board of directors, with various duties and responsibilities relative to the operation of a passenger rail transit system. Existing law establishes provisions regulating the collective bargaining of BART employees and its board of directors. This bill would prohibit BART from entering into an agreement that would limit its ability to prepare for a work stoppage or operate during a work stoppage. By imposing new duties on a local governmental entity, the bill would create 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law requires every law enforcement agency in the state to develop, adopt, and implement written policies and standards for officers' responses to domestic violence. Existing law also authorizes counties to establish multidisciplinary personnel teams regarding issues like child abuse to allow various agencies to collaborate. This bill would authorize a county to establish a domestic violence multidisciplinary personnel team and a human trafficking multidisciplinary personnel team to allow agencies to share confidential information in order to investigate reports of suspected crimes. This bill would authorize members of those multidisciplinary personnel teams to disclose to one another information and records that are relevant to the prevention, identification, or treatment of those crimes.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes any licensee or registrant whose license expired while he or she was on active duty as a member of the California National Guard or the United States Armed Forces to reinstate his or her license or registration without examination or penalty if certain requirements are met. Existing law also requires the boards to waive the renewal fees, continuing education requirements, and other renewal requirements, if applicable, of any licensee or registrant called to active duty as a member of the United States Armed Forces or the California National Guard, if certain requirements are met. Existing law requires each board to inquire in every application if the individual applying for licensure is serving in, or has previously served in, the military. Existing law requires a board within the Department of Consumer Affairs to expedite, and authorizes a board to assist with, the initial licensure process for an applicant who has served as an active duty member of the United States Armed Forces and was honorably discharged. This bill would require every board within the Department of Consumer Affairs to grant a fee waiver for the application for and the issuance of an initial license to an applicant who supplies satisfactory evidence, as defined, to the board that the applicant has served as an active duty member of the California National Guard or the United States Armed Forces and was honorably discharged. The bill would require that a veteran be granted only one fee waiver, except as specified.
Under existing law, a person, firm, or corporation that interferes with various specified rights of a disabled individual is liable for the actual damages of each offense and any amount determined by a judge or jury of up to 3 times the amount of the actual damages, but in no case less than $1,000. This bill would establish notice requirements for a plaintiff to follow before bringing an action against a small business, as defined, for an alleged violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) . The bill would require the plaintiff to provide notice to a business at least 6 months before filing the complaint. The bill would also preclude commencement of an action against a small business for an alleged ADA violation if the small business has made a good faith effort to correct the alleged violation.
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law, including miscellaneous itemized deductions that are allowed only to the extent that the aggregate amount of those deductions exceed 2% of adjusted gross income. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2023, would allow a deduction, not to exceed $100, under that law for the qualified costs paid or incurred by a taxpayer for the adoption of a qualified pet, as defined, from a qualified animal rescue organization. The bill would make these provisions operative on the effective date of any budget measure that specifically appropriates funds to the Franchise Tax Board for its costs of administering these provisions. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.