Existing law provides that school districts offering kindergarten may maintain kindergarten classes at different schoolsites for different lengths of time. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide the Legislature no later than July 1, 2017, with an evaluation of kindergarten program implementation in the state, including part-day and full-day kindergarten programs, as specified. The bill would make these provisions operative only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes. The bill would require a local educational agency, commencing with the 2015–16 school year, to provide an annual report to the State Department of Education that contains information on the type of kindergarten program offered by the local educational agency, as provided, in a manner determined by the department. By expanding the duties of a local educational agency, 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture, which is tasked with, among other things, promoting and protecting the agricultural industry of the state, and seeking to enhance, protect, and perpetuate the ability of the private sector to produce food and fiber in a way that benefits the general welfare and economy of the state. Existing law also establishes the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative for the purpose of promoting healthy food access in the state. This bill would create the Office of Farm to Fork within the department, and would require the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. The bill would require the office to, among other things, identify urban and rural communities that lack access to healthy food, and to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to promote and increase awareness of programs that promote greater food access. The bill would create the Farm to Fork Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund that would consist of money made available from federal, state, industry, and other sources, and would continuously appropriate the money deposited in the account without regard to fiscal years to carry out the purposes of the Office of Farm to Fork. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill, until January 1, 2020, would also require the department, in any year in which funds are received into or expended from the Farm to Fork Account, to submit to the Legislature an overview of the account's income and expenditures.
Existing law, the Improvement Act of 1911 (Improvement Act) , authorizes the legislative body of any public agency, as defined, to determine that it would be convenient, advantageous, and in the public interest to designate an area within the public agency, as specified, within which authorized public agency officials and property owners may enter into voluntary contractual assessments to finance the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources or energy or water efficiency improvements that are permanently fixed to real property, as specified. Under existing law, for the purpose of financing the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources pursuant to the Improvement Act, "permanently fixed" includes, but is not limited to, systems attached to a residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other real property pursuant to a power purchase agreement or lease between the owner of the system and the owner of the assessed property, if the power purchase agreement or lease contains certain provisions, including, but not limited to, provisions intended to ensure that the property owner is guaranteed the electric power from the system for the length of the lien. One of the required provisions is that after installation, the power purchase agreement or lease is paid in full using the funds from the contractual assessment program. The Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 (Mello-Roos Act) authorizes the establishment of community facilities districts and the issuance of bonds and the levying of special taxes to finance various types of facilities and services within the district. This bill would revise the information included in the power purchase agreement or lease to allow a system owner to include a specified covenant and warranty in its contract with the property owner, providing that the system will not be removed for the term of the contract. The bill would specifically authorize either full or partial payment for the power purchase agreement or lease to be made after installation of the system. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the program finance prepaid service contracts, as well as installation, of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvements. This bill would make various changes to the Improvement Act to achieve cost reductions and to achieve consistency with similar provisions of the Mello-Roos Act, including changes in recordation requirements and authorizing the financing of facilities in connection with the initial construction of a residential building that is being undertaken by the intended owner or occupant. This bill would authorize a public agency to transfer, as defined, its right, title, and interest in any voluntary contractual assessments if bonds have not been issued in that regard, subject to an agreement identifying the specific period of time during which the transfer will be operative, not to exceed 3 years. The bill would state that this authorization shall not be construed to authorize the transferee to initiate and prosecute a foreclosure action resulting from a delinquency in the payment of the voluntary contractual assessment, and that a foreclosure action remains the responsibility of the public agency which would retain the sole right to enforce its senior lien status. This bill would revise various procedures pursuant to which a public agency is authorized to issue bonds under the Improvement Act, including authorizing the public agency to issue new bonds to refinance outstanding bonds payable from contractual assessments levied pursuant to the act, which may be subject to a variable interest rate, under certain circumstances. The bill would authorize a public agency owning property to levy a contractual assessment under the act against a leasehold or possessory interest in that property, as prescribed.
Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of Alameda County to establish an independent hospital authority strictly and exclusively dedicated to the management, administration, and control of the group of public hospitals, clinics, and programs that comprise the Alameda County Medical Center. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2015, authorizes the board to establish an independent hospital authority for the Alameda Health System, formerly known as the Alameda County Medical Center, and makes conforming changes. Existing law sets forth the powers and duties of the hospital authority, including, but not limited to, the power to contract for services required to meet its obligations. Existing law prohibits the hospital authority from entering into any contract with any private person or entity before January 1, 2024, to replace services being provided by physicians and surgeons who are employed by the hospital authority and in a recognized collective bargaining unit as of March 31, 2013, with services provided by a private person or entity without clear and convincing evidence that the needed medical care can only be delivered cost effectively by a private contractor. This bill would, until January 1, 2015, instead prohibit the Alameda County Medical Center, and after that date, would prohibit the hospital authority, from entering into any contract with any other person or entity, including, but not limited to, a subsidiary or other entity established by the authority, to replace the services described above with services provided by that other person or entity without clear and convincing evidence that the needed medical care can only be delivered cost effectively by that other person or entity. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth, among other things, the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, and their respective institutions of higher education. Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, and the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as 2 of the public segments of postsecondary education in this state. A provision of the act requires the California State University and requests the University of California to establish a uniform set of model academic standards for high school courses for pupils who wish to attend those institutions. Existing law establishes the Academic Content Standards Commission and requires the commission to develop internationally benchmarked academic content standards in language arts and mathematics, at least 85% of which are required to be the common core academic standards developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative consortium or another specified interstate collaboration. This bill would express the Legislature's intent that the University of California and the California State University align their respective model academic standards for high school courses in language arts and mathematics to these academic content standards developed by the commission. The bill would require the trustees and would request the regents to develop guidelines for high school computer science courses to be approved for purposes of recognition for admission to the California State University and the University of California, respectively, and would encourage the University of California to ensure that computer science courses that satisfy the mathematics subject area requirements for admission build upon fundamental mathematics content provided in courses that align with the academic content standards developed by the commission.
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and support to individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. Existing law governs the habilitation services provided for adult consumers of regional centers, including work activity programs, as described, and establishes an hourly rate for supported employment services provided to consumers receiving individualized services. This bill would require the department, contingent upon receiving federal financial participation, to conduct a 4-year demonstration project to determine whether community-based vocational development services will increase employment outcomes for consumers and reduce purchase of service costs for working age adults, as specified. The bill would require the development and semiannual review of a plan, as specified, if community-based vocational development services, as defined, are determined to be a necessary step to achieve a supported employment outcome. The bill would establish an hourly rate for community-based vocational development services, for purposes of the demonstration project, of $40 per hour for a maximum of 75 hours per calendar quarter for all services identified and provided in the plan. The bill would provide that a consumer's hours of participation in community-based vocational development services may be provided in lieu of hours of participation in other community-based day program services, for up to 2 years, except as specified. The bill would require the department to publish a notice on the department's Internet Web site when the demonstration project has been implemented, and to make determinations and notify the Legislature concerning the project's effectiveness, as specified, at the project's conclusion. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2025. The bill would also set forth related legislative findings and declarations and a statement of legislative intent.
(1) Existing law prohibits the operation or navigation of a for-hire vessel, as defined, in the waters of California while carrying passengers, except by a person who holds a valid operator's license issued by the Division of Boating and Waterways. Under existing law, a person applying for an operator's license is required to undergo an examination, that may include, among other things, an inspection of the for-hire vessel. Existing law requires the division to approve boating safety courses and personal watercraft education courses, as specified. This bill would prohibit the operation of a vessel that is propelled by an engine in the waters of the state except by a person who is in possession of a valid vessel operator card developed and issued by the division, and would impose that prohibition on persons pursuant to a specified schedule. The bill would exempt certain persons from that requirement, as specified. The bill would require the division, on or before January 1, 2018, to develop vessel operator cards and issue a vessel operator card to a person who provides the division with proof that the person has passed a vessel operator examination and would authorize the division to develop an examination. The bill would require the division to provide links to approved examinations on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the division to charge specified fees for those cards, would establish the Vessel Operator Certification Account in the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund, and would require the fees to be deposited in that account. The bill would authorize the division to expend the moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the vessel operator card program. The bill would require an amount not to exceed $4,000,000 to be transferred, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, from the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund to the Vessel Operator Certification Account in the form of a loan to be used by the division to develop and establish the program. The bill would require the division to repay the loan from fees received from the issuance of vessel operator cards within 8 years of the effective date of this act. The bill would require the division on or before April 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, to prepare a report that contains specified information, including, among other things, the total number of vessel operator cards issued and the number of violations reported to the division. The bill would also require the division on or before April 1, 2023, and again on April 1, 2028, to post on its Internet Web site specified recommendations relating to the program. The bill would provide that a violation of the bill's provisions is an infraction, and would require a court to order a person who violates those provisions to complete and pass a boating safety course approved by the division. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 requires, until January 1, 2019, the governing board of a school district that enters into a contract for a public project, as defined, for which the board uses moneys received pursuant to the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 or moneys from future state school bonds for a public project that involves a projected expenditure of $1,000,000 or more, to require prospective bidders for a construction contract to complete and submit a standardized prequalification questionnaire and financial statement. Existing law requires the questionnaire and statement to be verified under oath by the bidder and for the district to adopt and apply a uniform system of rating bidders on the basis of the questionnaire and statement. Existing law authorizes the governing board to lease real property for a minimum rental of $1 per year if the instrument by which this property is leased requires the lessee to construct or provide for the construction of a building to be used by the district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board to enter into an agreement with the lowest responsible bidder to construct, or provide for the construction of, a building to be leased and used by the district upon a designated site. Existing law requires the instrument to provide that the title to the building and site to vest in the district at the end of the lease. This bill would, until January 1, 2019, require the lease instrument and the agreement with the lowest responsible bidder to include a requirement for the person, firm, or corporation that constructs a building to be leased and used by the school district upon a designated site, including, but not limited to, the prime contractor and, if used, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing subcontractors, to comply with the above-described prequalification questionnaire and financial statement requirements when the agreement is for a public project using moneys received pursuant to the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 or moneys from future state school bonds that involves a projected expenditure of $1,000,000 or more. By requiring additional persons to complete a questionnaire and statement that is verified under oath and increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also, among other things, require the governing board to establish a process to prequalify a person, firm, or corporation, including, but not limited to, the prime contractor and, if used, an electrical, mechanical, and plumbing subcontractor, to construct the leased building on a quarterly or annual basis, which would be valid for one calendar year following the date of the initial prequalification. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue specialty license plates, including environmental license plates and specified special environmental design license plates. Under existing law, a state agency is authorized to apply to the DMV to sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the DMV is required to issue those license plates if the agency meets certain requirements. The DMV is required to charge specified fees for certain services related to the issuance of those plates. Existing law establishes the Breast Cancer Control Account in the Breast Cancer Fund, and requires that funds in that account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated for the provision of early breast cancer detection services for uninsured and underinsured women. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to apply to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program, and would require the DMV to issue the license plates if the State Department of Health Care Services meets certain requirements. The bill would authorize the State Department of Health Care Services to accept and use donated artwork from California artists for the license plate. The bill would require the revenue generated from the license plates, as specified, to be deposited in the Breast Cancer Control Account in the Breast Cancer Fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would declare November 8, 2014, as California Solar Professionals Day.