Rep. Joan Buchanan

Existing law provides that all parks, public camp grounds, monument sites, landmark sites, and sites of historical interest established or acquired by the state, or that are under its control, constitute the state park system, excluding the State Fair Grounds in Sacramento and Balboa Park in San Diego. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to designate a baseline quantity of electricity and gas necessary for a significant portion of the reasonable energy needs of the average residential customer, and to establish a higher energy allowance above the baseline, for residential customers dependent on life-support equipment. The act requires that electrical corporations and gas corporations file rates and charges, to be approved by the commission, providing baseline rates that are applicable to the first block of usage and requires the commission, in establishing baseline rates, to avoid excessive rate increases for residential customers and to establish an appropriate gradual differential between the rates for the respective blocks of usage. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive revisions to the requirement that the commission designate a baseline quantity of electricity and gas necessary for a significant portion of the reasonable energy needs of the average residential customer.

Existing law provides that the governing board of any school district having jurisdiction over any elementary, intermediate, or junior high school may provide time and facilities to any local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the schools of the district, for bicycle safety instruction. This bill would also authorize the governing board of the school district to provide time and facilities for bicycle safety instruction to other public agencies that provide bicycle safety instruction.

Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program for the allocation of federal funds received through the TANF program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Under existing law, for purposes of determining a family's maximum aid payment under the CalWORKs program, the number of needy persons in the same family is not increased for any child born into a family that has received aid under the CalWORKs program continuously for the 10 months prior to the birth of the child, with specified exceptions. This bill would repeal that exclusion for purposes of determining the family's maximum aid payment and would expressly prohibit the denial of aid or denial of an increase in the maximum aid payment if a child on whose behalf aid, or an increase in aid, is being requested was born into an applicant's or recipient's family while the applicant's or recipient's family was receiving aid under the CalWORKs program. The bill would specify that an applicant or recipient is not entitled to an increased benefit payment for months prior to January 1, 2014, as a result of the repeal of that exclusion or the enactment of that express prohibition. The bill would also prohibit the department from conditioning an applicant or recipient's eligibility for aid on the applicant or recipient's disclosure of specified information regarding rape, incest, or contraception, as specified. The bill would make related findings and declarations. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county aid grant costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would declare that no appropriation would be made for purposes of the bill. To the extent that this bill affects eligibility under the CalWORKs program, 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 these statutory provisions.

Existing law authorizes a school district or school to provide a comprehensive program in first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, or both, to pupils and employees, and requires the program to be developed using specified guidelines. Existing law requires the principal of a public or private K–12 school with an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to ensure that certain school employees annually receive approved brochures describing the proper use of an AED and that similar information be posted next to every AED, to notify, at least annually, every school employee of the location of all AED units on the campus, and to designate the trained employees who shall be available to respond to an emergency that may involve the use of an AED, as specified. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to encourage all public schools to acquire and maintain at least one AED. The bill would authorize a public school to solicit and receive nonstate funds to acquire and maintain an AED. If a public school decides to acquire and maintain an AED, or continue to use and maintain an existing AED, the bill would authorize and encourage the school to comply with specified requirements. The bill would provide that the school district and employees of the school district are not liable for civil damages resulting from certain uses, attempted uses, or nonuses of an AED, except as provided. The bill would instead require that a principal designate only school employees who volunteer to be designated as AED volunteers to respond to an emergency that may involve the use of an AED during normal operating hours. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that school employees not be required to pay the cost of any training that may be required on the proper use of an AED.

(1) Existing law establishes the Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Program, which requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award a grant, for the purpose of purchasing or leasing agricultural career technical education equipment, to an applicant school district that operates an agricultural career technical education program and that meets specified requirements. Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to annually adopt or update a local control and accountability plan that contains specified information. This bill would continuously appropriate the sum of $4,134,000 in each fiscal year beginning with the 2015–16 fiscal year from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of funding the Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Program. The bill would require the Superintendent to award a grant to a school district that, in addition to meeting the existing requirements, demonstrates how the expenditure of the grant funds will be consistent with its adopted local control and accountability plan. The bill would also express various findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to agricultural career technical education. (2) Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

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 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, for purposes of determining a family's maximum aid payment under the CalWORKs program, the number of needy persons in the same family is not increased for any child born into a family that has received aid under the CalWORKs program continuously for the 10 months prior to the birth of the child, with specified exceptions. This bill would repeal that exclusion for purposes of determining the family's maximum aid payment and would expressly prohibit the denial of aid or denial of an increase in the maximum aid payment if a child, on whose behalf aid or an increase in aid is being requested, was born into an applicant's or recipient's family while the applicant's or recipient's family was receiving aid under the CalWORKs program. The bill would specify that an applicant or recipient is not entitled to an increased benefit payment for any month prior to January 1, 2015, as a result of the repeal of that exclusion or the enactment of that express prohibition. The bill would also prohibit the department from conditioning an applicant's or recipient's eligibility for aid on the applicant's or recipient's disclosure of information regarding rape, incest, or contraception, as specified, or the applicant's or recipient's use of contraception. The bill would make related findings and declarations. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county aid grant costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would declare that no appropriation would be made for purposes of the bill. To the extent that this bill affects eligibility under the CalWORKs program, 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 these statutory provisions.

Existing law provides for the regulation of invention development services contracts and, among other things, requires that those contracts be in writing. Existing law declares the purpose of those provisions and states various findings regarding inventors. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that declaration and statement of findings.

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.