Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Pursuant to its existing authority, the commission issued Electrical Rule 21 establishing operational and metering requirements for a generation facility to be connected to an electrical corporation's distribution system. Existing law relative to private energy producers requires every electric utility, as defined, to develop a standard contract or tariff providing for net energy metering, as defined, and to make this contract or tariff available to eligible customer-generators, as defined, upon request for generation by a renewable electrical generation facility, as defined. The existing definition of an eligible customer-generator requires that the generating facility use a renewable source of energy, as specified, and have a generating capacity of not more than one megawatt. Existing law requires that every electric utility ensure that requests for an interconnection agreement from an eligible customer-generator are processed in a time period not to exceed 30 working days from the date it receives a completed application form from the eligible customer-generator for an interconnection agreement. This bill would require the commission to determine criteria that would allow an independent generation facility, as defined, to apply for interconnection to the utility electric distribution grid under the fast track review process, as defined under Rule 21. Under existing law, a violation of an order, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a failure of an electric utility to process an interconnection request from an independent generation facility pursuant to Rule 21 would be 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.
Sponsored bills
Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services regulates the licensure and operation of community care facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly, child day care centers, and family day care homes. Existing law requires that these facilities be subject to unannounced visits by the department that occur at least once every 5 years. Existing law requires the department to conduct an annual unannounced visit under specified circumstances, including when a license is on probation, and to conduct annual unannounced visits to no less than 20% of the facilities not subject to an evaluation under those specified circumstances. This bill would instead make every facility of the types described above subject to an annual unannounced visit by the department on and after July 1, 2017. The bill would revise the provisions requiring the department to conduct annual unannounced visits to no less than 20% of the facilities by instead requiring the department to conduct annual unannounced visits to no less than 30% of facilities on or before July 1, 2015, and no less than 20% of those facilities on or before July 1, 2016. The bill would also delete the provisions requiring an unannounced visit at least once every 5 years. Existing law requires the department to immediately request a fire clearance and notify an applicant to arrange a time for the department to conduct a prelicensure survey if an application for initial licensure is complete. This bill would provide that the prelicensure survey is optional at the discretion of the department if the department determines that an application is for licensure of a currently licensed facility for which there will be no material change to the management or operations of the facility.
Within the Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance and Postponement Law, the Gonsalves-Deukmejian-Petris Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance Law provides for payment of assistance by the Franchise Tax Board to low-income and elderly or disabled claimants, whether those claimants own or rent their residences, in accordance with schedules that reduce the amount of assistance provided as the amount of a claimant's household income increases along a specified scale of household income amounts. This bill would create the Renter's Tax Assistance Act within the Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance and Postponement Law to provide for payment of assistance by the Franchise Tax Board to individuals who rent their residences and have gross household income that do not exceed $42,588, in accordance with a schedule that reduces the amount of assistance provided as the amount of an individual's household income increases along a specified scale of household income amounts. This bill would require each individual applying for assistance to file a claim under penalty of perjury with the board on a form supplied by the board, and would require the claim to include information in the form and manner prescribed by the board that establishes that the individual was eligible for assistance. Existing law provides that a tax preparer who endorses or otherwise negotiates any warrants made with respect to assistance claimed under the Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance and Postponement Law and issued is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would expand the scope of that misdemeanor to include a tax preparer who endorses or otherwise negotiates any warrants made with respect to assistance claimed under the Renter's Tax Assistance Act. By expanding the crime of perjury and expanding the scope of the existing 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 imposes various requirements on a test agency, as defined, with respect to the administration of standardized tests for purposes of postsecondary education, and requires a test sponsor to submit certain information and data to the California Postsecondary Education Commission. A test agency that intentionally violates any of those provisions is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $750 for each violation. Existing law authorizes a test agency to cancel or invalidate a test score where substantial evidence exists to support cancellation or invalidation of the test score. This bill would require a test sponsor to also submit specified information that is required to be submitted to the California Postsecondary Education Commission, or its successor entity, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and would authorize the submission of that information in digital format. The bill would, until January 1, 2017, require a test agency to submit a report, on or before March 1 of each year, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and to the Legislature that contains specified information on test scores that were canceled or invalidated in the prior year.
Existing law requires county boards to meet to equalize the assessment of property on the local roll, as provided, and authorizes a taxpayer, represented in some circumstances by a property tax agent, to apply to a county assessment appeals board for an assessment reduction under a variety of circumstances, including for a reduction of the base year value, as defined, of real property. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to improve the tax appeals process and create transparency by establishing a public registration process for property tax agents.
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 to benefit the general welfare and economy of the state. This bill would establish the Market Match Nutrition Incentive Program in the department, and would create the Market Match Nutrition Incentive Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to collect matching funds received from a specified federal grant program used to provide grants under the Market Match Nutrition Incentive Program and to administer the Market Match Nutrition Incentive Program in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would require the department to establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants, as specified, and would require the department to award grants to qualified entities, as defined, in accordance with certain priorities.
Existing law, the California Adult Day Health Care Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of adult day health care centers, with administrative responsibility shared between the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Health Care Services, and the California Department of Aging pursuant to an interagency agreement. Existing law provides that a negligent, repeated, or willful violation of a provision of the California Adult Day Health Care Act is a misdemeanor. This bill would require an adult day health care center licensed pursuant to the act to comply with specified staffing requirements, maintain policies and procedures for providing supportive health care services to participants, and conduct and document training, as prescribed. Because a negligent, repeated, or willful violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified, low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law provides, to the extent permitted by federal law, that adult day health care (ADHC) be excluded from coverage under the Medi-Cal program. This bill would establish the Community-Based Adult Services (CBAS) program, as specified, as a Medi-Cal benefit. The bill would require CBAS providers to meet specified requirements and would require the department to, commencing July 1, 2015, certify and enroll as new CBAS providers only those providers that are exempt from taxation as a nonprofit entity. 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 establishes the California Health Benefit Review Program to assess legislation that proposes to mandate or repeal a mandated health benefit or service, as defined. Existing law requests the University of California, to provide the analysis to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature within 60 days after receiving a request for the analysis. Existing law also requests that the university report to the Governor and the Legislature on the implementation of the program by January 1, 2014. This bill would request the University of California to include essential health benefits and the impact on the California Health Benefit Exchange in the analysis prepared under the program. The bill would further request that the University of California assess legislation that impacts health insurance benefit design, cost sharing, premiums, and other health insurance topics. The bill would request that the university provide the analysis to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature not later than 60 days, or in a manner and pursuant to a timeline agreed to by the Legislature and the program, after receiving the request, as specified. The bill would also extend the date by which the university is requested to report to the Governor and the Legislature on the implementation program until January 1, 2016. Existing law establishes the Health Care Benefits Fund to support the university in implementing the program. Existing law imposes an annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers, as specified, to be deposited into the fund. Existing law prohibits the total annual assessment pursuant to that provision from exceeding $2,000,000. Under existing law, the fund and the program are repealed as of June 30, 2015. This bill would extend until June 30, 2016, the operative date of the program and the fund, including the annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers. The bill would repeal the above-described provisions as of June 30, 2016. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to allow pupils whom the district has determined would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work to attend community college as special part-time or full-time students, subject to parental permission. Existing law, until January 1, 2014, required credit to be awarded to these pupils, as specified, made the authority of a school principal to recommend a pupil for community college summer session contingent upon a determination that the pupil met various criteria, and prohibited the principal from recommending more than 5% of the total number of pupils from any particular grade level who completed that grade immediately before the time of recommendation for summer session attendance, except as specified. This bill would reinstate these provisions until January 1, 2017. The bill would, until July 1, 2020, authorize the governing board of a school district to enter into a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement with a community college district located within its immediate service area to allow pupils to attend community college. The bill would require a community college district and a school district, as a condition of, and before adopting, a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement, to take testimony from the public and approve or disapprove the proposed agreement at a regularly scheduled open public hearing of its respective governing board after having presented the agreement at a prior open public hearing. The bill would require the concurrent enrollment partnership agreement to outline the terms of the partnership, as specified. The bill would prohibit a school district from receiving a state allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which a community college district has been, or will be, paid an allowance or apportionment under a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement. The bill would authorize a participating high school to monitor the progress of its pupils attending a community college and to obtain the pupils' records from a community college district to do so. The bill would require, for each concurrent enrollment partnership agreement entered into under the bill, the affected community college district and school district to file an annual report, containing specified data, with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The bill would also authorize the governing board of a community college district to enter into a partnership with the governing board of a school district located within its service area with the goal of developing seamless pathways from high school to community college for career technical education or preparation for transfer. The bill would require the partnership agreement to outline the terms of the partnership, as specified, and would require copies of the partnership agreement to be filed with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The bill would authorize a community college district to limit enrollment in a community college course to solely high school pupils under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize specified high school pupils to enroll in up to 15 units if those units are required for these pupils' partnership programs and specified circumstances are satisfied, and would authorize a community college district to exempt special part-time and full-time students taking up to a maximum of 15 units per term from specified fee requirements. The bill would prohibit a community college district from receiving a state allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which a school district has been, or will be, paid an allowance or apportionment under a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement. The bill would require, for each partnership agreement entered into under the bill, the affected community college district and school district to file an annual report, containing specified data, with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The bill would also make related and conforming changes.
(1) Existing law generally prohibits the possession or transfer of assault weapons, except for the sale, purchase, importation, or possession of assault weapons by specified individuals, including law enforcement officers. Under existing law, "assault weapon" means, among other things, a semiautomatic, centerfire rifle or a semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and has any one of specified attributes, including, for rifles, a thumbhole stock, and for pistols, a second handgrip. This bill would revise these provisions to mean a semiautomatic, centerfire rifle or a semiautomatic pistol that does not have a fixed magazine but has any one of those specified attributes. This bill would also define "fixed magazine" to mean an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm action. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires that any person who, within this state, possesses an assault weapon, except as otherwise provided, be punished as a felony or for a period not to exceed one year in a county jail. This bill would exempt from punishment under that provision a person who initially possessed an assault weapon prior to January 1, 2014, and until July 1, 2015, if specified requirements are met. (3) Existing law requires that, with specified exceptions, any person who, prior to January 1, 2001, lawfully possessed an assault weapon prior to the date it was defined as an assault weapon, and which was not specified as an assault weapon at the time of lawful possession, register the firearm with the Department of Justice. Existing law permits the Department of Justice to charge a fee for registration of up to $20 per person but not to exceed the actual processing costs of the department. Existing law, after the department establishes fees sufficient to reimburse the department for processing costs, requires fees charged to increase at a rate not to exceed the legislatively approved annual cost-of-living adjustment for the department's budget or as otherwise increased through the Budget Act. Existing law requires those fees to be deposited into the Dealers' Record of Sale Special Account. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, establishes the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. This bill would require that any person who, from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2013, inclusive, lawfully possessed an assault weapon that does not have a fixed magazine, as defined, and including those weapons with an ammunition feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm with the use of a tool, register the firearm with the Department of Justice before July 1, 2015, but not before the effective date of specified regulations. This bill would permit the department to increase the $20 registration fee as long as it does not exceed the reasonable processing costs of the department. This bill would also require registrations to be submitted electronically via the Internet utilizing a public-facing application made available by the department. This bill would require the registration to contain specified information, including, but not limited to, a description of the firearm that identifies it uniquely and specified information about the registrant. This bill would permit the department to charge a fee of up to $15 per person for registration through the Internet, not to exceed the reasonable processing costs of the department to be paid and deposited, as specified. This bill would require the department to adopt regulations for the purpose of implementing those provisions and would exempt those regulations from the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill would also make technical and conforming changes. (4) 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.