Asm. Phil Ting

Existing law establishes a stewardship program, under which a manufacturer or distributor of covered drugs or sharps, or other entity defined to be covered by the bill, would be required to establish and implement, either on its own or as part of a group of covered entities through membership in a stewardship organization, a stewardship program for covered products, which is defined to include home-generated sharps waste. Existing law, for purposes of the stewardship program, defines "home-generated sharps waste" to mean hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications derived from a household, including a multifamily residence or household, subject to certain exclusions. Existing law requires a pharmaceutical manufacturer that sells or distributes a medication in California that is usually intended to be self-injected at home through the use of a hypodermic needle, pen needle, intravenous needle, or any other similar device, to annually submit to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery and post on its internet website a plan that describes how the manufacturer supports the safe collection and proper disposal of the waste devices. This bill would provide that a pharmaceutical manufacturer is not required to submit or post that annual plan if the devices it uses for the injection of that medication are covered products, including home-generated sharps waste, pursuant to the provisions establishing the above-mentioned stewardship program.

Under existing law, the Medical Practice Act, it is unprofessional conduct for a physician and surgeon to fail to comply with prescribed informed consent requirements relating to various medical procedures, including sterilization procedures, the removal of sperm or ova from a patient under specified circumstances, and the treatment of breast cancer. Any violation of the law relating to enforcement of the Medical Practice Act is a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill would prohibit a treatment or intervention on the sex characteristics of a person born with variations in their physical sex characteristics who is under 6 years of age unless the treatment or intervention is medically necessary. The bill, on or before December 1, 2021, would require the Medical Board of California, in consultation with specified persons and entities, to adopt regulations to determine which treatments and interventions on the sex characteristics of a person born with variations in their physical sex characteristics who is under 6 years of age are medically necessary, as specified. Any violation of these provisions would be subject to disciplinary action by the board, but not criminal prosecution.

(1) Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections. Existing law charges the board with providing the statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice system, including addressing gang problems. The existing Budget Act of 2019 establishes the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, to award competitive grants for the purpose of violence intervention and prevention. This bill would codify the establishment of the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program and the authority and duties of the board in administering the program, including the selection criteria for grants and reporting requirements to the Legislature. (2) Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose an excise tax on a retailer in the amount of $25 per firearm on the sale in this state of a handgun or semiautomatic rifle or shotgun sold as new, as provided, and an excise tax on a retailer in the amount of ___% of the gross receipts from any sale of ammunition. The tax would be collected by the state pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. This bill would require that the revenues collected be deposited in the CalVIP Firearm and Ammunition Tax Fund, which the bill would create. The moneys in that fund would be continuously appropriated to the Board of State and Community Corrections to provide CalVIP grants. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that local childcare and development planning councils provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for childcare and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. Existing law requires the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools to select members for the local planning council for that county. Existing law requires local planning councils, upon approval by the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools, to submit to the State Department of Education the local priorities it has identified that reflect all childcare needs in the county, as provided. This bill would require local planning councils to provide information to cities and counties regarding facility needs for early childhood education, including, but not limited to, childcare and preschool, in their jurisdictions. By imposing new duties on local planning councils, 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, 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.

(1) The California Constitution, with respect to any taxes levied on taxable property in a redevelopment project established under the Community Redevelopment Law, as it then read or may be amended, authorizes the Legislature to provide for the division of those taxes under a redevelopment plan between the taxing agencies and the redevelopment agency, as provided. Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies as of February 1, 2012, and designates successor agencies to act as successor entities to the dissolved redevelopment agencies. This bill, the Community Redevelopment Law of 2019, would authorize a city or county, or two or more cities acting jointly, to propose the formation of an affordable housing and infrastructure agency by adoption of a resolution of intention that meets specified requirements, including that the resolution of intention include a passthrough provision and an override passthrough provision, as defined. The bill would require the city or county to submit that resolution to each affected taxing entity and would authorize an entity that receives that resolution to elect to not receive a passthrough payment, as provided. The bill would require the city or county that adopted that resolution to hold a public hearing on the proposal to consider all written and oral objections to the formation, as well as any recommendations of the affected taxing entities, and would authorize that city or county to adopt a resolution of formation at the conclusion of that hearing. The bill would then require that city or county to submit the resolution of intention to the Strategic Growth Council for a determination as to whether the agency would promote statewide greenhouse gas reduction goals. The bill would require the council to approve formation of the agency if it determines that formation of the agency both (1) would not result in a state fiscal impact, determined as specified by the Controller, that exceeds a specified amount and (2) would promote statewide greenhouse gas reduction goals. The bill would deem an agency to be in existence as of the date of the council's approval. The bill would require the council to establish a program to provide technical assistance to a city or county desiring to form an agency pursuant to these provisions. The bill would provide for a governing board of the agency consisting of one member appointed by the legislative body or the legislative bodies, as applicable, that adopted the resolution of intention, one member appointed by each affected taxing entity, and 2 public members. The bill would authorize an agency formed pursuant to these provisions to finance specified infrastructure and housing projects, and to carry out related powers, such as the power to purchase and lease property within the redevelopment project area, that are similar to the powers previously granted to redevelopment agencies. The bill would require an agency to adopt an annual budget and to maintain detailed records of every action taken by that agency for a specified period of time, and would provide that any person who violates this requirement be subject to a fine of $10,000 per violation. The bill would require the agency to submit an annual report containing specified information, and a final report of any audit undertaken by any other local, state, or federal government entity, to its governing body within specified time periods. The bill would also require the agency to submit a copy of the annual report with the Controller and a copy of any audit report with the Department of Housing and Community Development. The bill would establish procedures under which the Controller would identify major audit violations and the Attorney General would bring an action to compel compliance. The bill would require the governing board of an agency to designate an appropriate official to prepare a proposed redevelopment project plan, in accordance with specified procedures. The bill would require the agency to hold a public hearing on the proposed redevelopment project plan, and would authorize the governing board to either adopt the redevelopment project plan or abandon proceedings, in which case the agency would cease to exist. The bill would authorize the redevelopment project plan to provide for the division of taxes levied upon taxable property, if any, between an affected taxing entity and the agency, as provided. The bill would declare that this authorization fulfills the intent of constitutional redevelopment provisions. The bill would also require that not less than 30% of all taxes allocated to the agency from an affected taxing entity be deposited into a separate fund, established by the agency, and used for the purposes of increasing, improving, and preserving the community's supply of low- and moderate-income housing available at an affordable housing cost, as provided. The bill would authorize the agency to issue bonds to finance redevelopment housing or infrastructure projects, in accordance with specified requirements and procedures, including that the resolution proposing the bonds include a description of the facilities or developments to be financed and the estimated cost of those facilities or developments, and that the resolution adopting the bonds provide for specified matters such as the principal amount of bonds. The bill would also authorize a city, county, or special district that contains territory within the boundaries of an agency to loan moneys to the agency to fund activities described in the redevelopment project plan. The bill would require the agency to contract for an independent financial and performance audit every 2 years after the issuance of debt. (2) Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution sets forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts and community college districts for each fiscal year. This bill would require the Director of Finance to adjust the percentage of General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts for these purposes in a manner that ensures that the division of taxes authorized by the Community Redevelopment Law of 2019 have no net fiscal impact upon the total amount of the General Fund revenue and local property tax revenue allocated to school districts and community college districts pursuant to Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, as specified. (3) By imposing additional duties on the county auditor with respect to the allocation of tax increment revenues, and the review of information submitted to the county auditor by an agency pursuant to these provisions, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products, as defined, to a person under 21 years of age. Existing law also prohibits the use of tobacco products in county offices of education, on charter school or school district property, or near a playground or youth sports event, as specified. This bill would prohibit a tobacco retailer from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product, as defined. The bill would make a violation of this prohibition an infraction punishable by a fine of $250 for each violation. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that these provisions not be construed to preempt or prohibit the adoption and implementation of local ordinances related to the prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The bill would state that its provisions are severable. By creating a new 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.

(1) The Personal Income Tax Law, beginning on or after January 1, 2015, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income tax credit against personal income tax, and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability, to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. The law provides that the amount of the credit is calculated as a percentage of the eligible individual's earned income and is phased out above a specified amount as income increases. The law deems, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2019, the California Consumer Price Index as the greater of 3.1% or the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index for the recomputation of specified earned income amounts, phaseout amounts, and the amount of disqualified income that would disallow this credit. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, and before January 1, 2020, would deem the California Consumer Price Index as the greater of 3.5% or the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index for the recomputation of those specified amounts. The bill, for taxable years on and after January 1, 2019, would revise the calculation factors to increase the credit amount for specified taxpayers. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and until and including the taxable year in which the minimum wage is set at $15 per hour, would require specified, revised calculation factors to be recomputed annually in the same manner as the recomputation of income tax brackets for eligible individuals, but would require the Franchise Tax Board to recalculate the revised phaseout percentage in a manner that any eligible individual with an earned income of $30,000 per year would get credit equal to $0. This bill would allow a refundable young child tax credit against the taxes imposed under the Personal Income Tax Law, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, in an amount equal to $1,176 multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, not to exceed $1,000 per each qualified taxpayer per taxable year. The bill would require amounts of this credit in excess of the qualified taxpayer's tax liability to be paid to the qualified taxpayer from the Tax Relief and Refund Account. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account, including any amount to be paid as an earned income tax credit in excess of any tax liabilities. By increasing the amount of the California Earned Income Tax Credit and allowing a refundable young child tax credit to be paid with funds from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, and thus, authorizing new payments from that account for additional amounts in excess of personal income tax liabilities, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing federal law, the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (ABLE Act) , for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2014, encourages and assists individuals and families to save private funds for the purpose of supporting persons with disabilities to maintain their health, independence, and quality of life by excluding from gross income distributions used for qualified disability expenses by a beneficiary of a qualified ABLE program established and maintained by a state, as specified. Existing federal law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, increases the amount of contributions allowed to an ABLE account, adds special rules for the increased contribution limit, and exempts from taxation distributions from a qualified tuition program, as defined, rolled into an ABLE account for taxable years beginning on or after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026. Existing federal law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 expanded the definitions of "qualified higher educational expenses" and "qualified ABLE program." Existing law, the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, conforms to the exclusions from gross income provided under federal income tax law provisions relating to the ABLE Act, as those exclusions read prior to the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. Existing law creates the California ABLE Act Board and requires the board to provide an annual listing of distributions to individuals that have an interest in an ABLE account to the Franchise Tax Board, as provided. This bill would conform state tax law to those changes relating to qualified ABLE accounts made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. The bill would make a legislative finding and declaration that providing ABLE account beneficiaries the ability to contribute their own earnings to the ABLE account up to the federal poverty level and allowing Section 529 plan accounts to roll over to ABLE accounts eliminates differences in the qualification criteria for ABLE accounts under federal tax law and California tax law, and thus serves a public purpose and does not constitute a prohibited gift of public funds. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law provides an exclusion from gross income for the amount of student loan indebtedness repaid or canceled pursuant to a specified federal law. This bill would exclude from an individual's gross income the amount of student loan indebtedness discharged on or after December 31, 2011 due to the death or disability of the student, as provided. (4) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allow various deductions from gross income in computing adjusted gross income under those laws, including a deduction, as trade or business expense, of the premiums paid pursuant to an assessment by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This bill would conform to the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by disallowing or limiting the amount specified taxpayers may deduct for these premiums depending on the amount of total consolidated assets, as defined, of the taxpayer. (5) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allow a deduction from gross income in computing adjusted gross income of ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business. Existing law prohibits a deduction from being allowed with respect to any covered employee of a publicly held corporation if the amount of applicable employee remuneration exceeds $1,000,000. This bill would conform to the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by revising the definitions of covered employee and publicly held corporation to limit the amount those specified taxpayers may deduct for ordinary and necessary expenses. The bill would also disallow the performance-based compensation and commission exceptions with respect to the deduction limitation relating to covered employees. (6) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow net operating losses attributable to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, to be carrybacks to each of the preceding 2 taxable years, as provided. This bill would disallow the use of net operating loss carrybacks by individual and corporate taxpayers. (7) The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allows a small business to use the cash method of accounting if its average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year do not exceed $25,000,000. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allows a small business to use the cash method of accounting if its average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year do not exceed $5,000,000. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, would conform the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law to the increase to $25,000,000 made by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the allowable amount of annual gross receipts of a small business allowed to use the cash method of accounting. The bill would allow a taxpayer to elect to have this conformity apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2019. (8) The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act exempts a corporation engaged in farming that has average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year not exceeding $25,000,000 from computing its taxable income by using the accrual method of accounting. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law exempt a corporation engaged in farming that has average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year not exceeding $5,000,000 from computing taxable income by using the accrual method of accounting. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, would conform the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law to the increase to $25,000,000 made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the amount of average annual gross receipts of a farming corporation that is exempt from using the accrual method of accounting. The bill would allow a taxpayer to elect to have this conformity apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2019. The bill would also make conforming changes related to suspense allowances, as provided. (9) The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act exempts a taxpayer with average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year of $25,000,000 or less from the provisions that preclude the deduction of certain direct and indirect costs and determine whether those property costs are inventory costs or are capitalized. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law exempts a taxpayer with average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year of $10,000,000 or less from the provisions that preclude the deduction of certain direct and indirect costs and determine whether those property costs are inventory costs or are capitalized. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, would conform the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law to the increase to $25,000,000 made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the amount of average annual gross receipts of a taxpayer exempt from those provisions precluding the deductibility of certain property costs and determining whether those costs are inventory costs or are capitalized. The bill would allow a taxpayer to elect to have this conformity apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2019. (10) The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act exempts a small business with average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year not exceeding $25,000,000 from the provisions that require a taxpayer to take inventories to clearly determine their income. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law conforms to the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the requirement that a taxpayer take inventories to clearly determine their income, but does not allow an exemption. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, would conform the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law to the exemption in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of a small business with average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year not exceeding $25,000,000 from the provisions that require a taxpayer to take inventories to clearly determine their income. The bill would allow a taxpayer to elect to have this conformity apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2019. (11) The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act exempts construction contracts entered into by a taxpayer with average annual gross receipts not exceeding $25,000,000 from the requirement that the taxable income from a long-term contract be determined by the percentage of completion method. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law exempts construction contracts entered into by a taxpayer with average annual gross receipts for the 3 taxable years ending with the prior taxable year not exceeding $10,000,000 from the requirement that the taxable income from a long-term contract be determined by the percentage of completion method. This bill would conform the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law to the exemption in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of construction contracts entered into by a taxpayer with average annual gross receipts not exceeding $25,000,000 from the requirement that the taxable income from a long-term contract be determined by the percentage of completion method. This conformity would apply to contracts entered into on or after the effective date of this act, as provided, and would allow, where applicable, a taxpayer to elect to have the conformity apply to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2018, and before the effective date of this act. (12) The Personal Income Tax Law generally allows a noncorporate taxpayer to deduct business losses from a pass through entity, like an "S" corporation. Under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, excess business losses, as defined, of a noncorporate taxpayer are not allowed as a deduction and instead those losses must be carried forward and treated as a net operating loss in subsequent taxable years, as provided. This bill, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2018, would provide modified conformity to the above-described limitation, including not conforming to the federal sunset date. (13) The Personal Income Tax Law conforms as of a specified date to federal income tax laws, January 1, 2015, and therefore allows for the termination of a partnership by the sale or exchange of 50% or more of the interest in a partnership within a 12-month period. The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed that provision of federal income tax law for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. This bill would conform to federal income tax law with regard to the termination of partnerships described above and would additionally allow a partnership to elect to have this conformity apply to partnership taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2019. This bill would make findings as to the public purpose served by the bill in this regard. (14) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, exclude the recognition of any gain or loss on the exchange of property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment, if that property is exchanged solely for property of a like kind that is to be held either for productive use in a trade or business or for investment, unless an exception applies. This bill would conform to federal income tax law, as amended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by limiting that exclusion to the recognition of any gain or loss on the exchange of real property, except as otherwise provided. (15) The Corporation Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax laws, and when a taxpayer does not elect otherwise for purposes of state income tax law, allows a purchasing corporation to make an election that its qualified stock purchase, as defined, from a target corporation may be treated as an asset acquisition resulting in a step up in the basis of the stock. This bill would provide that if the above-described election for federal income tax purposes has been made or deemed to have been made, or not made or not deemed to have been made, by a taxpayer, a separate state election shall not be allowed. (16) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes the Air Quality Improvement Program that is administered by the State Air Resources Board for the purposes of funding projects related to, among other things, the reduction of criteria air pollutants and improvement of air quality. Pursuant to its existing statutory authority, the state board has established the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, as a part of the Air Quality Improvement Program, to promote the use of zero-emission vehicles by providing rebates for the purchase of new zero-emission vehicles. This bill would declare it is the policy of the state to place at least 5,000,000 zero-emission vehicles on state roads by 2030 and 10,000,000 zero-emission vehicles on state roads by 2035. The bill also would require the state board to limit vehicle eligibility for the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project to only those vehicles manufactured by companies that have entered into a specified agreement that has been adopted by the state board and to post that agreement on the state board's internet website.

Existing law, the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) , governs collective bargaining between the state and recognized state public employee organizations. Existing law excludes certain employees from coverage under the Dills Act, including, among others, managerial employees, supervisory employees, and confidential employees, as defined. Existing law creates the Public Employment Relations Board and authorizes it, among other things, to determine appropriate state employee bargaining units, as specified. This bill would enact the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act, to provide employees of the Legislature, including some supervisory and managerial employees, the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. The bill would prescribe rights, duties, and prohibitions in this context that parallel those in the Dills Act. The bill would prohibit the Public Employment Relations Board from including employees of the Legislature in a bargaining unit that includes employees other than those of the Legislature. The bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person to willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the board, or any of its agents, in the performance of duties pursuant to its provisions. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that the provisions of the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act are severable. 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.