Existing law relating to the administration of personal income taxes authorizes individual taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds or accounts. This bill would allow individual taxpayers to designate on their tax returns, that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the Safely Surrendered Baby Fund, which would be created by this bill. This bill would provide that all moneys contributed to the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and to the State Department of Social Services for programs to increase public awareness and outreach regarding the Safely Surrendered Baby Law, as specified. This bill would provide that these voluntary contribution provisions are repealed on either January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the taxable year the fund first appears on the personal income tax return or on January 1 of an earlier calendar year, if the Franchise Tax Board estimates that the annual contribution amount will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount, as specified, for subsequent taxable years.
Sponsored bills
Existing law  authorizes, at the discretion of the appointing power, excluded employees to transfer eligible leave credits to an excluded employee when a catastrophic illness or injury occurs. This bill would authorize a request to be made of the employer of a retired state employee, as defined, who died from a nonwork-related illness or injury within 12 months of retirement to allow employees to donate leave credits to a leave bank. The donated leave, not to exceed $50,000, would be cashed out to the person designated to receive the deceased employee's leave balance. The bill would provide that donations would be accepted for 30 days following approval of the request, except as described below. The bill would apply retroactively to any employee who retired on or after December 1, 2009. The bill would require any leave donations for a retired state employee who died on or before December 31, 2010, to be accepted until January 31, 2011. The bill's provisions would apply to any retired state employee who at the time of retirement was a member of a collective bargaining unit that had bargained for a survivor's benefit that authorizes the donation of leave credits from employees to a leave bank on behalf of an employee on pay status who dies from a nonwork-related illness or injury.
Existing law added by initiative, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, prohibits any physician from being punished, or denied any right or privilege, for having recommended marijuana to a patient for medical purposes. The act prohibits the provisions of law making unlawful the possession or cultivation of marijuana from applying to a qualified patient, the qualified patient's primary caregiver, or an individual who provides assistance to the qualified patient or the qualified patient's primary caregiver, who possesses, cultivates, or distributes marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the qualified patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician. Existing statutory law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish and maintain a voluntary program for the issuance of identification cards to qualified patients and establishes procedures under which a qualified patient with an identification card may use marijuana for medical purposes. Existing law regulates qualified patients, a qualified patient's primary caregiver, and individuals who provide assistance to the qualified patient or the qualified patient's primary caregiver, as specified. A violation of these provisions is generally a misdemeanor. This bill would provide that no medical marijuana cooperative, collective, dispensary, operator, establishment, or provider authorized by law to possess, cultivate, or distribute medical marijuana that has a storefront or mobile retail outlet which ordinarily requires a local business license shall be located within a 600-foot radius of any public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, except as specified. The bill also would provide that local ordinances, adopted prior to January 1, 2011, that regulate the location or establishment of these medical marijuana establishments would not be preempted by its provisions; and that nothing in the bill shall prohibit a city, county, or city and county from adopting ordinances that further restrict the location or establishment of these medical marijuana establishments. The bill would express a legislative finding and declaration that establishing a uniform standard regulating the proximity of these medical marijuana establishments to schools is a matter of statewide concern and not a municipal affair and that, therefore, all cities and counties, including charter cities and charter counties, shall be subject to the provisions of the bill. By creating a new 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 designates certain locations as safe-surrender sites for the safe surrender of newborn children who are 72 hours of age or younger. This bill would require a designating entity to consult with the governing body of a city, if the site is within city limits, and with representatives of the applicable fire department and child welfare agency, as specified. The bill would permit a local fire agency, upon the approval of the appropriate local governing body of the agency, to designate a safe-surrender site. The bill would specify certain circumstances in which a safe-surrender site and its personnel have no liability for a surrendered child. By imposing new duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, on or before January 1, 2013, and on or before January 1 of each subsequent year, contingent on certain conditions, require the department to report to the Legislature specified information pursuant to the act. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Existing law governs the hiring of real property based on the terms of the agreement, or on the behavior of the parties. Under existing law, a tenant may notify the landlord in writing that he or she, or a household member, was a victim of an act of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and intends to terminate the tenancy. The tenant is released from any rent payment obligation 30 days following the giving of the notice, or as specified. Existing law establishes the criteria for determining when a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer of a premises, and includes committing nuisance in this regard. Existing law provides, until January 1, 2012, for the purposes of the law of unlawful detainer, that if a person commits any specified act or acts of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking against another tenant or subtenant on the premises, there is a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof that the person has committed a nuisance on the premises if the victim or a member of the victim's household has not vacated the premises. This bill would, except as specified, prohibit a landlord from terminating a tenancy or failing to renew a tenancy based upon an act of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking against a protected tenant, as defined, or a protected tenant's household member when that act is documented, as specified, and the person who is restrained from contact with the protected tenant under a court order, as defined, or is named in a police report of that act is not a tenant of the same dwelling unit. The bill would require the landlord to change the locks, as defined, within 24 hours of a written request, as specified, when the restrained person is not a tenant of the same dwelling unit. The bill would also require, under specified circumstances, the landlord to change the locks when the restrained person is a tenant of the same dwelling unit. The bill would declare the landlord not liable to a restrained person who is excluded from the dwelling unit if the locks are changed pursuant to that provision. The bill would state that a restrained person who has been excluded from a dwelling unit under that provision remains liable under the lease with all other tenants of the dwelling unit for rent as provided in the lease. The bill would authorize a protected tenant to change the locks without the landlord's permission, as specified, notwithstanding any provision in the lease to the contrary, if the landlord does not change the locks within 24 hours, as specified, with regard to leases executed on or after the date the bill would take effect. The bill would also specify the manner in which a protected tenant is required to change the locks if the protected tenant changes the locks without the permission of the landlord. The bill would also require the Judicial Council, on or before January 1, 2012, to develop a new form or revise an existing form that may be used by a party to assert in the responsive pleading the grounds set forth in this section as an affirmative defense to an unlawful detainer action.
Existing law prescribes procedures for the issuance of registered warrants and provides that a registered warrant is acceptable and may be used as security for the performance of any public or private trust or obligation. This bill would, if the Controller makes a specified determination, require a state agency to accept, from a person or entity, a registered warrant issued by the Controller and endorsed by that payee, at full face value, for the payment of any obligations owed by that payee to that state agency. The bill would specify that its requirements do not apply to certain obligations and would require the Controller, on or before the September 1 following the conclusion of a fiscal year in which a state agency is required to accept registered warrants pursuant to these provisions, to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The bill would make its provisions inoperative on July 1, 2012, and would repeal them on January 1, 2013. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the California High-Speed Rail Act, creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail system in the state, with specified powers and duties. Existing law, pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, general election, provides for the issuance of $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and related purposes. The federal Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) and the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provide funding for allocation nationally to high-speed rail projects. This bill would require federal high-speed rail funds received on a reimbursement basis from ARRA to be deposited in the federal trust fund. The bill would require certain ARRA funds to be used for planning and engineering, and for capital costs, for the high-speed train system consistent with federal law and regulations and specified provisions of SB 965 of the 2009–10 Regular Session. The bill would identify the corridors eligible for federal PRIIA funds. The above provisions would become operative only if SB 965 is also enacted and becomes operative. Existing law provides for appointment of an executive director by the authority, who is exempt from civil service and serves at the pleasure of the authority. Under existing law, the salary of the executive director is established by the authority and approved by the Department of Personnel Administration. This bill, for purposes of managing and administering the ongoing work of the authority in implementing the high-speed rail project, would authorize the Governor, upon recommendation of the executive director and subject to an appropriation, to appoint up to 6 additional executive staff exempt from civil service who would serve in specified positions at the pleasure of the executive director. The bill would require the authority to cause a salary survey to be conducted to determine the compensation for the executive director and additional exempt staff, and would require the salaries to be approved by the Department of Personnel Administration. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to approve additional positions at the authority for purposes of creating an Office for Project Controls and Risk Management in the authority.
Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, authorizes each county to designate an emergency medical services (EMS) agency, for the establishment and administration of an emergency medical services program in the county. Existing law also establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) , which, among other things, adopts guidelines and regulations governing the provision of emergency medical services. Violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would specify that the regulations of the authority shall include policies and procedures applicable to the functions, certification, and licensure of all emergency medical technician personnel, as defined, and would require the local EMS agencies to adhere to these standards. The bill would authorize the authority to develop and adopt a related fee schedule and fee increases to support the authority's actual costs to promulgate the additional regulations. The bill would provide that any policies and procedures implemented by a local EMS agency that are not in accordance with the standards required under the bill are subject to review by the Director of the EMSA, as specified, and that a local EMS agency that is notified of a policy or procedure that is not in compliance is required to stop implementation of the policy and procedure or submit a revised policy or procedure that complies with the regulations developed by the authority to the director within 90 days of notification. The bill would allow the authority to assess penalties on a local EMS agency that fails to respond to a notification of noncompliance. By requiring that the local entities comply with these requirements, and by changing the definition of an 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 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, the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999, establishes the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund, continuously appropriated to the University of California, for the purpose of awarding grants to perform spinal cord injury research projects. The fund consists of moneys from private entities, as specified, as well as public moneys transferred to the fund. Existing law, with the approval of the Regents of the University of California, also creates a Spinal Cord Injury Research Program in the University of California to promote spinal cord injury research in California. The program and the fund are repealed as of January 1, 2011. This bill would eliminate the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund, and instead permit the University of California to establish a spinal cord injury research fund, independent of the State Treasury, to accept public and private funds for spinal cord injury research programs and grants, as prescribed. It would delete the repeal date of provisions relating to the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program thus indefinitely extending the duration of those provisions.
Existing law provides time credit for work performance and good behavior to prisoners confined to a county jail, industrial farm, or road camp, or any city jail, industrial farm, or road camp. Specifically, except regarding certain prisoners who are limited to 15% credit against sentenced time, existing law provides that a term of 4 days will be deemed to have been served for every 2 days spent in actual custody in one of these facilities, except that a term of 6 days will be deemed to have been served for every 4 days in actual custody for prisoners required to register as sex offenders, prisoners committed for a serious felony, or prisoners with a prior conviction for a serious or violent felony. This bill would instead provide that prisoners sentenced to state prison for whom the sentence is executed, except for those required to register as sex offenders, committed for a serious felony, or with a previous conviction for a serious or violent felony, who are confined in a city or county jail, industrial farm, or road camp, from the date of arrest until state prison credits are applicable, shall have one day deducted from his or her period of confinement for every day the prisoner served in a city or county jail, industrial farm, or road camp. The bill would provide that a prisoner sentenced to state prison who is confined in a city or county jail, industrial farm, or road camp may not receive the day-for-day credit if it appears by the record that the prisoner refused to satisfactorily perform labor or failed to satisfactorily comply with rules and regulations, as specified. The bill would provide that, for prisoners otherwise in a county jail, industrial farm, or road camp, or any city jail, industrial farm, or road camp for a crime committed on or after the effective date of this bill, except those subject to the 15% limitation on credits noted above, a term of 6 days will be deemed to have been served for every 4 days spent in actual custody. Because this bill would change the punishment for crimes, it 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.