Asm. Wesley Chesbro

The Personal Income Tax Law allows taxpayers, until January 1, 2015, to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of the California Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Research Fund, unless earlier repealed for failure to meet annual minimum contribution amounts. This bill would instead make these provisions effective for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2020.

Existing law, the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008, as approved by the voters, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $900,000,000, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, for purposes of financing the Cal-Vet program for farm, home, and mobilehome purchase assistance for veterans. This bill would amend the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008 to reduce the amount of bonds that are authorized to be issued under the act from $900,000,000 to $300,000,000. The bill would enact the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (the bond act) to authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600,000,000, as specified, for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide multifamily housing to veterans pursuant to the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 (VHHPA) , also enacted by the bill. The bill would authorize the Legislature to amend the provisions of the bond act, by majority vote, for specified purposes. The bill would impose a specified reporting requirement on the Department of Housing and Community Development to evaluate, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, any program established by the former pursuant to the VHHPA. The bill would authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide specified assistance to veterans. The bill would provide for submission of a specified section to the voters at the June 3, 2014, statewide primary election, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) Existing law defines a "beer manufacturer" as any person engaged in the manufacture of beer, and requires a license or permit to manufacture beer, unless the beer is manufactured for personal or family use under specified conditions. This bill would revise the definition of "beer manufacturer" to include only those persons that have facilities and equipment for the purposes of, and are engaged in, the commercial manufacture of beer. (2) The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, prescribes requirements for licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The act requires that all beer sold in the state have a label affixed to its package or container with the true and correct name and address of the manufacturer of the beer and the true and correct name of the bottler of the beer if other than the manufacturer. The act provides that a violation of its provisions is a misdemeanor if not otherwise specified. This bill would require a beer label to include the brand and type of beer and would also require a beer manufacturer that refills any container supplied by a consumer to affix a label, as specified, on the container prior to its resale to the consumer. The bill would require information concerning any beer previously packaged in the container, including, but not limited to, information regarding the manufacturer and bottler of the beer, to be removed or completely obscured in a manner not readily removable by the consumer prior to resale. The bill would specify that this provision does not authorize a beer manufacturer to refill a container supplied by a consumer with a capacity of 5 liquid gallons or more. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, known as tied-house restrictions, generally prohibit manufacturers, winegrowers, bottlers, importers, wholesalers, and others from performing certain activities, with specified exceptions. Existing law allows specified licensees to serve and provide, free of charge, food, alcoholic beverages, and other items to retail licensees and their guests attending meetings, conventions, combined conventions, and trade shows, as provided. This bill would also allow a beer manufacturer or brewpub-restaurant licensee to serve beer produced by the manufacturer or brewpub-restaurant licensee to attendees at a meeting of a bona fide beer manufacturer or brewers' guild held on the premises of a beer manufacturer. (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.

Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services contracts with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. Under existing law, the regional centers purchase needed services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities through approved service providers, or arrange for their provision through other publicly funded agencies. The services and supports to be provided to a regional center consumer are contained in an individual program plan (IPP) , developed in accordance with prescribed requirements. Existing law establishes, contingent upon approval of a federal waiver, the Self-Directed Services Program, and requires the program to be available in every regional center catchment area to provide participants, within an individual budget, greater control over needed services and supports. This bill would require the department, contingent upon approval of federal funding, to establish and implement a state Self-Determination Program, as defined, that would be available in every regional center catchment area to provide participants and their families, within an individual budget, increased flexibility and choice, and greater control over decisions, resources, and needed and desired services and supports to implement their IPP, in accordance with prescribed requirements. The statewide program would be phased in over 3 years, serving up to 2,500 regional center consumers during the phase-in period, and thereafter, available on a voluntary basis to all eligible regional center consumers. The bill would require the department to, among other things, apply for federal funding for the program by December 31, 2014. This bill would provide that program participants receive an individual budget, as prescribed, to be used for the purchase of services and supports necessary to implement the participant's IPP. The bill would require program participants to agree to, among other things, manage self-determination services and supports within the individual budget. The bill would require the department to require nonvendored providers of services and supports who meet specified criteria to submit to a criminal background check, as specified. The bill would require the department, with respect to this background check, to submit fingerprint images and related information to the Department of Justice, and would require the Department of Justice to provide specified responses to the department. The bill would require the Department of Justice to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of processing this request. The bill would, among other things, require each regional center to be responsible for implementing the program as a term of its contract, and to establish a local voluntary advisory committee to provide oversight of the project. The bill would require the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to form a volunteer statewide committee to, among other things, identify self-determination best practices. The bill would require the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, in collaboration with specified entities, to issue to the Legislature a report regarding the status of the program and recommendations to the program, as specified, and would require the department, beginning January 10, 2017, to provide to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature prescribed information relating to the program.

The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations on timberland unless a timber harvesting plan has been prepared by a registered professional forester and has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and approved by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection or the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. A violation of the act is a crime. The bill would authorize a person who intends to become a working forest landowner, as defined, to file a working forest management plan with the department, with the long-term objective of an uneven aged timber stand and sustained yield through the implementation of the plan. The bill would require the plan to be prepared by a registered professional forester, be public record, and contain certain information, including the name and address of the timberland owner. The bill would require the department to provide a public comment period of at least 90 days from the date of the receipt of the plan, as specified. The bill would require the department to determine if the plan is accurate, complete, and in proper order. The bill would require the director to return the plan if the director determines that the plan is not in conformance, as provided. The bill would require the working forest landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any timberland within the boundaries of an approved plan and who harvests any of the timber during a given year to file a working forest harvest notice, as defined, with the department in writing. The bill would require the notice to be public record and to include certain information, including a statement that state or federally listed rare, threatened, candidate, or endangered plant or animal species have not been discovered in the harvest area since the approval of the plan. The bill would require the director to convene an interdisciplinary review team, as described, every 5 years to review an approved plan's administrative record, plan summary information, as specified, and any other information relevant to verify that operations have been conducted in accordance with the plan and applicable laws. The bill would require the department to cancel a previously approved plan if the department determines that the objectives of uneven aged management and sustained yield are not being met or if there are other persistent violations, as provided. The bill would require the board to adopt regulations needed to implement the above provisions by January 1, 2016. The bill would provide that its provisions shall not apply to the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District, as defined. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding the need for special legislation. Because a violation of these provisions is a 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.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, participating counties, and the State Public Works Board to acquire, design, and construct local jail facilities approved by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) . Existing law authorizes the State Public Works Board to issue revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes in the amounts of $445,771,000 and $774,229,000, in 2 phases, to finance the acquisition, design, and construction, and a reasonable construction reserve, of approved local jail facilities, as specified. The funds derived from those revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes are continuously appropriated for the purposes described above. This bill would decrease the authorization for revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes in the first phase from $445,771,000 to $365,771,000 and increase the authorization of the 2nd phase from $774,229,000 to $854,229,000. Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a participating county, and the board to acquire, design, renovate, or construct a local youthful offender rehabilitative facility, approved by the BSCC, or a site or sites owned by, or subject to a lease or option to purchase held by, a participating county. Existing law authorizes the issuance of up to $300,000,000 in revenue bonds, notes, or bond anticipation notes to finance the acquisition, design, renovation, or construction, and a reasonable construction reserve, of approved local youthful offender rehabilitative facilities. This bill would, in the event that a county that has been conditionally awarded financing later determines that participating with other counties in a shared regional facility would provide an improved solution to the county's needs and the needs of other counties, authorize the county to apply to the BSCC for redirection of the conditional award to another county that will be the lead county for the regional facility, in conjunction with the original county and, potentially, other counties. The bill would authorize the board to redirect the conditional award, prior to any approval and establishment of the project, if certain determinations are made by the BSCC.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to license, regulate, and inspect clinics, as defined, including primary care clinics, as defined. Existing law authorizes a primary care clinic to submit verification of certification from the Joint Commission, formerly known as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) , to the Licensing and Certification Division within the department for entry into the electronic Licensing Management System for purposes of data collection and extraction for licensing and certification fee calculations. This bill would additionally authorize a primary care clinic to submit verification of certification from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care or any other accrediting organization recognized by the department to the Licensing and Certification Division for those purposes.

Existing law, the Consumer Cooperative Corporation Law, governs the organization and operation of consumer cooperative corporations. The law specifies the provisions that may be set forth in the articles of incorporation of a consumer cooperative. This bill would include among these provisions authorization for the board of directors to fix the rights, privileges, preferences, restrictions, and conditions attaching to any wholly unissued class of memberships authorized in the bylaws or articles and, if the bylaws or articles authorize a class of memberships to be divisible into series, to any wholly unissued series of a membership class authorized to be divisible into series, and to fix the number of memberships in the series and the designation of the series, as specified. The bill would require any amendment to the bylaws or articles of a consumer cooperative to be approved by the members of a series if the series would be adversely affected by the action, as specified. The bill would also make other conforming changes.

(1) 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 under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law requires a county to redetermine the amount of a CalWORKs grant on a semiannual basis, as specified. Under existing law, certain amounts are exempt from the calculation of income of the family for purposes of determining the amount of a grant under the CalWORKs program, including disability-based unearned income, as specified. Under existing law, disability-based unearned income means state disability insurance benefits, private disability insurance benefits, temporary workers' compensation benefits, and social security disability benefits. This bill would expand the definition of disability-based unearned income to include veteran's disability compensation. To the extent that this bill would increase county administrative duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. (3) 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.

The California Tire Recycling Act requires a person who purchases a new tire to pay a California tire fee, for deposit in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund, for expenditure by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay the costs of operating the tire recycling program. The act provides that the tire recycling program may include the awarding of grants, loans, subsidies, and rebates and the payment of incentives for various purposes related to reducing landfill disposal of used whole tires and tire recycling. Existing law requires the moneys in the fund, except as specified, to be appropriated to the department in the annual Budget Act in a manner consistent with the department's 5-year plan. This bill would establish the Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Market Development Act and would require the department, in accordance with the tire recycling program, to award grants for certain public agency projects that utilize rubberized asphalt concrete. The bill would require the department to award these grants in the amount of $2 for every 12 pounds of crumb rubber used in a public works or disability access project, but would authorize the department to adjust this rate if it finds that the adjusted amount would further the purposes of the tire recycling act. The bill would make the act inoperative on June 30, 2019, and would repeal the act on January 1, 2020.