The Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibits a person, other than a small contributor committee or political party committee, from making to a candidate for elective state office, for statewide elective office, or for office of the Governor, and prohibits those candidates from accepting from a person, a contribution totaling more than a specified amount per election. For a candidate for elective state office other than a candidate for statewide elective office, the limitation on contributions is $3,000 per election, as that amount is adjusted by the Fair Political Practices Commission in January of every odd-numbered year. Existing law authorizes a county, city, or district to limit campaign contributions in local elections. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or of a community college district to limit campaign expenditures or contributions in elections to district offices. The act specifies that it does not prevent the Legislature or any other state or local agency from imposing additional requirements on a person if the requirements do not prevent the person from complying with the act, and that the act does not nullify contribution limitations or prohibitions by any local jurisdiction that apply to elections for local elective office, as specified. This bill, commencing January 1, 2019, instead would prohibit a person from making to a candidate for local elective office, and would prohibit a candidate for local elective office from accepting from a person, a contribution totaling more than the amount set forth in the act for limitations on contributions to a candidate for elective state office. This bill would also authorize a county, city, special district, or school district to impose a limitation that is different from the limitation imposed by this bill. This bill would repeal the authorization for the governing board of a school district or of a community college district to limit campaign expenditures in elections to district offices. This bill would make specified provisions of the act relating to contribution limitations applicable to a candidate for a local elective office, except as specified. The act makes a violation of its provisions punishable as a misdemeanor and subject to specified penalties. This bill would add the contribution limitation imposed by the bill to the act's provisions, thereby making a violation of the limitation punishable as a misdemeanor and subject to specified penalties. However, the bill would specify that a violation of a limitation imposed by a local government is not subject to the act's enforcement provisions. The bill would authorize a local government that imposes a limitation that is different from the limitation imposed by this bill to adopt enforcement standards for a violation of the limitation imposed by the local government agency, including administrative, civil, or criminal penalties. By expanding the scope of an existing crime with regard to a violation of a contribution limitation imposed by the bill, 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Sponsored bills
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various exclusions from gross income, and allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law, including miscellaneous itemized deductions that are allowed only to the extent that the aggregate amount of those deductions exceeds 2% of adjusted gross income. This bill, upon appropriation of specified funds by the Legislature, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2019, would allow a deduction, not to exceed specified amounts, of the amount a qualified taxpayer, as defined, contributed in any taxable year to a homeownership savings account and would exclude from gross income any income earned on the moneys contributed to a homeownership savings account. The bill would provide that a qualified taxpayer may withdraw amounts from a homeownership savings account to pay for qualified homeownership savings expenses, defined as expenses paid or incurred in connection with the purchase of a principal residence in this state. The bill would provide that any amount withdrawn from that account that is not used for these expenses would be included as income for that taxpayer. The bill would define various terms for its purposes. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. For 2016, the adjusted gross income limit is $76,518 and $38,259, respectively. This bill would, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, contingent upon a specified appropriation, increase this credit for a qualified renter to $240 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $100,000 or less, and to an amount equal to $120 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust the increased adjusted gross income amount for inflation. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose of providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law provides for child care alternative payment programs, the purpose of which is to provide for maximum parental choice in child care. Existing law requires reimbursement for alternative payment programs to include the cost of child care paid to child care providers, plus administrative and support services costs. Under existing law, the total cost for administrative and support services is not permitted to exceed 17.5% of the total contract amount. This bill would provide that the administrative and support services are not permitted to exceed 17.6% of the total contract amount.
(1) Existing law establishes a low-income housing tax credit program pursuant to which the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee provides procedures and requirements for the allocation, in modified conformity with federal law, of state insurance, personal income, and corporation tax credit amounts to qualified low-income housing projects that have been allocated, or qualify for, a federal low-income housing tax credit, and farmworker housing. Existing law limits the total annual amount of the state low-income housing credit for which a federal low-income housing credit is required to the sum of $70,000,000, as increased by any percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year, any unused credit for the preceding calendar years, and the amount of housing credit ceiling returned in the calendar year. Existing law additionally allows a state credit, which is not dependent on receiving a federal low-income housing credit, of $500,000 per calendar year for projects to provide farmworker housing. For purposes of determining the credit amount, existing law defines the term "applicable percentage" depending on, among other things, whether the qualified low-income building is a new building that is not federally subsidized, a new building that is federally subsidized, or is an existing building that is "at risk of conversion." Except for specified special needs applications for projects within a difficult development area (DDA) or qualified census tract (QCT) , existing law authorizes all credit ceiling applications to request state credits provided that the applicant is not requesting a 130% basis adjustment for purposes of calculating the federal credit award amount. This bill, under the law governing the taxation of insurers, the Personal Income Tax Law, and the Corporation Tax Law, for calendar years beginning in 2018, would increase the aggregate housing credit dollar amount that may be allocated among low-income housing projects by an additional $300,000,000, as specified, and would allocate to farmworker housing projects $25,000,000 per year of that amount. The bill, under those laws, would modify the definition of applicable percentage relating to qualified low-income buildings to depend on whether the building is a new or existing building and federally subsidized, or a building that is, among other things, at least 15 years old, serving households of very low income or extremely low income, and will complete substantial rehabilitation, as specified. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law, including allowing a deduction for a limited amount of interest paid or accrued on mortgages for a taxpayer's 2nd residence, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws. This bill would disallow that deduction. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law provides various sources of funding for transportation purposes, including funding for the state highway system and the local street and road system. These funding sources include, among others, fuel excise taxes, commercial vehicle weight fees, local transactions and use taxes, and federal funds. Existing law imposes certain registration fees on vehicles, with revenues from these fees deposited in the Motor Vehicle Account and used to fund the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of the California Highway Patrol. Existing law provides for the monthly transfer of excess balances in the Motor Vehicle Account to the State Highway Account. This bill would create the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program to address deferred maintenance on the state highway system and the local street and road system. The bill would require the California Transportation Commission to adopt performance criteria, consistent with a specified asset management plan, to ensure efficient use of certain funds available for the program. The bill would provide for the deposit of various funds for the program in the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account, which the bill would create in the State Transportation Fund, including revenues attributable to a $0.012 per gallon increase in the motor vehicle fuel (gasoline) tax imposed by the bill with an inflation adjustment, as provided, an increase of $38 in the annual vehicle registration fee with an inflation adjustment, as provided, a new $165 annual vehicle registration fee with an inflation adjustment, as provided, applicable to zero-emission motor vehicles, as defined, and certain miscellaneous revenues described in (7) below that are not restricted as to expenditure by Article XIX of the California Constitution. This bill would annually set aside $200,000,000 of the funds available for the program to fund road maintenance and rehabilitation purposes in counties that have sought and received voter approval of taxes or that have imposed fees, including uniform developer fees, as defined, which taxes or fees are dedicated solely to transportation improvements. These funds would be continuously appropriated for allocation pursuant to guidelines to be developed by the California Transportation Commission in consultation with local agencies. The bill would require $80,000,000 of the funds available for the program to be annually transferred to the State Highway Account for expenditure on the Active Transportation Program. The bill would require $30,000,000 of the funds available for the program in each of 4 fiscal years beginning in 2017–18 to be transferred to the Advance Mitigation Fund created by the bill pursuant to (12) below. The bill would continuously appropriate $2,000,000 annually of the funds available for the program to the California State University for the purpose of conducting transportation research and transportation-related workforce education, training, and development, and $3,000,000 annually to the institutes for transportation studies at the University of California. The bill would require the remaining funds available for the program to be allocated 50% for maintenance of the state highway system or to the state highway operation and protection program and 50% to cities and counties pursuant to a specified formula. The bill would impose various requirements on the department and agencies receiving these funds. The bill would authorize a city or county to spend its apportionment of funds under the program on transportation priorities other than those allowable pursuant to the program if the city's or county's average Pavement Condition Index meets or exceeds 80. The bill would also require the department to annually identify savings achieved through efficiencies implemented at the department and to propose, from the identified savings, an appropriation to be included in the annual Budget Act of up to $70,000,000 from the State Highway Account for expenditure on the Active Transportation Program. (2) Existing law establishes in state government the Transportation Agency, which includes various departments and state entities, including the California Transportation Commission. Existing law vests the California Transportation Commission with specified powers, duties, and functions relative to transportation matters. Existing law requires the commission to retain independent authority to perform the duties and functions prescribed to it under any provision of law. This bill would exclude the California Transportation Commission from the Transportation Agency, establish it as an entity in state government, and require it to act in an independent oversight role. The bill would also make conforming changes. (3) Existing law creates various state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed Rail Authority, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the State Air Resources Board, with specified powers and duties. Existing law provides for the allocation of state transportation funds to various transportation purposes. This bill would create the Office of the Transportation Inspector General in state government, as an independent office that would not be a subdivision of any other government entity, to ensure that all of the above-referenced state agencies and all other state agencies expending state transportation funds are operating efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with federal and state laws. The bill would provide for the Governor to appoint the Transportation Inspector General for a 6-year term, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and would provide that the Transportation Inspector General may not be removed from office during the term except for good cause. The bill would specify the duties and responsibilities of the Transportation Inspector General and would require an annual report to the Legislature and Governor. This bill would require the department to update the Highway Design Manual to incorporate the "complete streets" design concept by July 1, 2017. (4) Existing law provides for loans of revenues from various transportation funds and accounts to the General Fund, with various repayment dates specified. This bill would require the Department of Finance, on or before January 1, 2017, to compute the amount of outstanding loans made from specified transportation funds. The bill would require the Department of Transportation to prepare a loan repayment schedule and would require the outstanding loans to be repaid pursuant to that schedule, as prescribed. The bill would appropriate funds for that purpose from the Budget Stabilization Account. The bill would require the repaid funds to be transferred, pursuant to a specified formula, to cities and counties and to the department for maintenance of the state highway system and for purposes of the state highway operation and protection program. (5) The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 1B) created the Trade Corridors Improvement Fund and provided for allocation by the California Transportation Commission of $2 billion in bond funds for infrastructure improvements on highway and rail corridors that have a high volume of freight movement and for specified categories of projects eligible to receive these funds. Existing law continues the Trade Corridors Improvement Fund in existence in order to receive revenues from sources other than the bond act for these purposes. This bill would deposit the revenues attributable to a $0.20 per gallon increase in the diesel fuel excise tax imposed by the bill into the Trade Corridors Improvement Fund. The bill would require revenues apportioned to the state from the national highway freight program established by the federal Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act to be allocated for trade corridor improvement projects approved pursuant to these provisions. Existing law requires the commission, in determining projects eligible for funding, to consult various state freight and regional infrastructure and goods movement plans and the statewide port master plan. This bill would revise the list of plans to be consulted by the commission when determining eligible projects for funding. The bill would also expand eligible projects to include, among others, rail landside access improvements, landside freight access improvements to airports, and certain capital and operational improvements. (6) Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates 10% of the annual proceeds of the fund to the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program and 5% of the annual proceeds of the fund to the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program. This bill would, beginning in the 2017–18 fiscal year, instead continuously appropriate 20% of those annual proceeds to the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program and 10% of those annual proceeds to the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program, thereby making an appropriation. (7) Article XIX of the California Constitution restricts the expenditure of revenues from taxes imposed by the state on fuels used in motor vehicles upon public streets and highways to street and highway and certain mass transit purposes. Existing law requires certain miscellaneous revenues deposited in the State Highway Account that are not restricted as to expenditure by Article XIX of the California Constitution to be transferred to the Transportation Debt Service Fund in the State Transportation Fund, as specified, and requires the Controller to transfer from the fund to the General Fund an amount of those revenues necessary to offset the current year debt service made from the General Fund on general obligation transportation bonds issued pursuant to Proposition 116 of 1990. This bill would delete the transfer of these miscellaneous revenues to the Transportation Debt Service Fund, thereby eliminating the offsetting transfer to the General Fund for debt service on general obligation transportation bonds issued pursuant to Proposition 116 of 1990. The bill, subject to a specified exception, would instead require the miscellaneous revenues to be retained in the State Highway Account and to be deposited in the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account. (8) Article XIX of the California Constitution requires gasoline excise tax revenues from motor vehicles traveling upon public streets and highways to be deposited in the Highway Users Tax Account, for allocation to city, county, and state transportation purposes. Existing law generally provides for statutory allocation of gasoline excise tax revenues attributable to other modes of transportation, including aviation, boats, agricultural vehicles, and off-highway vehicles, to particular accounts and funds for expenditure on purposes associated with those other modes, except that a specified portion of these gasoline excise tax revenues is deposited in the General Fund. Expenditure of the gasoline excise tax revenues attributable to those other modes is not restricted by Article XIX of the California Constitution. This bill, commencing July 1, 2017, would instead transfer to the Highway Users Tax Account for allocation to state and local transportation purposes under a specified formula the portion of gasoline excise tax revenues currently being deposited in the General Fund that are attributable to boats, agricultural vehicles, and off-highway vehicles. Because that account is continuously appropriated, the bill would make an appropriation. (9) Existing law, as of July 1, 2011, increases the sales and use tax on diesel and decreases the excise tax, as provided. Existing law requires the State Board of Equalization to annually modify both the gasoline and diesel excise tax rates on a going-forward basis so that the various changes in the taxes imposed on gasoline and diesel are revenue neutral. This bill would eliminate the annual rate adjustment to maintain revenue neutrality for the gasoline and diesel excise tax rates and would reimpose the higher gasoline excise tax rate that was in effect on July 1, 2010, in addition to the increase in the rate described in (1) above. Existing law, beyond the sales and use tax rate generally applicable, imposes an additional sales and use tax on diesel fuel at the rate of 1.75%, subject to certain exemptions, and provides for the net revenues collected from the additional tax to be transferred to the Public Transportation Account. Existing law continuously appropriates these revenues to the Controller for allocation by formula to transportation agencies for public transit purposes under the State Transit Assistance Program. This bill would increase the additional sales and use tax on diesel fuel by an additional 3.5%. By increasing the revenues deposited in the Public Transportation Account that are continuously appropriated, the bill would thereby make an appropriation. The bill would restrict expenditures of revenues from this increase in the sales and use tax on diesel fuel to transit capital purposes and certain transit services and would require a recipient transit agency to comply with certain requirements, including submitting a list of proposed projects to the Department of Transportation, as a condition of receiving a portion of these funds. The bill would require the Controller to compute and publish quarterly proposed allocations for each eligible recipient agency under the State Transit Assistance Program. The bill would require an existing required audit of transit operator finances to verify that these new revenues have been expended in conformance with these specific restrictions and all other generally applicable requirements. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2019, and every 3rd year thereafter, require the State Board of Equalization to recompute the gasoline and diesel excise tax rates and the additional sales and use tax rate on diesel fuel based upon the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index transmitted to the board by the Department of Finance, as prescribed. (10) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to prepare a state highway operation and protection program every other year for the expenditure of transportation capital improvement funds for projects that are necessary to preserve and protect the state highway system, excluding projects that add new traffic lanes. The program is required to be based on an asset management plan, as specified. Existing law requires the department to specify, for each project in the program the capital and support budget and projected delivery date for various components of the project. Existing law provides for the California Transportation Commission to review and adopt the program, and authorizes the commission to decline and adopt the program if it determines that the program is not sufficiently consistent with the asset management plan. The bill would require the commission, as part of its review of the program, to hold at least one hearing in northern California and one hearing in southern California regarding the proposed program. The bill would require the department to submit any change to a programmed project as an amendment to the commission for its approval. This bill, on and after August 1, 2017, would also require the commission to make an allocation of all capital and support costs for each project in the program, and would require the department to submit a supplemental project allocation request to the commission for each project that experiences cost increases above the amounts in its allocation. The bill would require the commission to establish guidelines to provide exceptions to the requirement for a supplemental project allocation requirement that the commission determines are necessary to ensure that projects are not unnecessarily delayed. (11) Existing law imposes weight fees on the registration of commercial motor vehicles and provides for the deposit of net weight fee revenues into the State Highway Account. Existing law provides for the transfer of certain weight fee revenues from the State Highway Account to the Transportation Debt Service Fund to reimburse the General Fund for payment of debt service on general obligation bonds issued for transportation purposes. Existing law also provides for the transfer of certain weight fee revenues to the Transportation Bond Direct Payment Account for direct payment of debt service on designated bonds, which are defined to be certain transportation general obligation bonds issued pursuant to Proposition 1B of 2006. Existing law also provides for loans of weight fee revenues to the General Fund to the extent the revenues are not needed for bond debt service purposes, with the loans to be repaid when the revenues are later needed for those purposes, as specified. This bill, notwithstanding these provisions or any other law, would only authorize specified amounts of weight fee revenues to be transferred from the State Highway Account to the Transportation Debt Service Fund, the Transportation Bond Direct Payment Account, or any other fund or account for the purpose of payment of the debt service on transportation general obligation bonds in accordance with a prescribed schedule, with no more than $500,000,000 to be transferred in the 2021– 22 and subsequent fiscal years. The bill would also prohibit loans of weight fee revenues to the General Fund. (12) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA, until January 1, 2020, exempts a project or an activity to repair, maintain, or make minor alterations to an existing roadway, as defined, other than a state roadway, if the project or activity is carried out by a city or county with a population of less than 100,000 persons to improve public safety and meets other specified requirements. This bill would extend the above-referenced exemption indefinitely and delete the limitation of the exemption to projects or activities in cities and counties with a population of less than 100,000 persons. The bill would also expand the exemption to include state roadways. This bill would also establish the Advance Mitigation Program in the Department of Transportation. The bill would authorize the department to undertake mitigation measures in advance of construction of a planned transportation project. The bill would require the department to establish a steering committee to advise the department on advance mitigation measures and related matters. The bill would create the Advance Mitigation Fund as a continuously appropriated revolving fund, to be funded initially from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program pursuant to (1) above. The bill would provide for reimbursement of the revolving fund at the time a planned transportation project benefiting from advance mitigation is constructed. (13) Existing federal law requires the United States Secretary of Transportation to carry out a surface transportation project delivery program, under which the participating states assume certain responsibilities for environmental review and clearance of transportation projects that would otherwise be the responsibility of the federal government. Existing law, until January 1, 2017, when these provisions are repealed, provides that the State of California consents to the jurisdiction of the federal courts with regard to the compliance, discharge, or enforcement of the responsibilities the Department of Transportation assumed as a participant in this program. This bill would reenact these provisions. (14) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the owner of a vehicle of a type required to be registered under the Vehicle Code to submit an application for the original or renewal registration of that vehicle to the Department of Motor Vehicles upon the appropriate form furnished by the department, and requires the application to include specified information, including the true, full name of the owner and a description of the vehicle. Existing law also requires the registration card of a vehicle to contain upon its face, among other things, the name and residence or business address or mailing address of the owner and of the legal owner, if any, the registration number assigned to the vehicle, and a description of the vehicle as complete as that required in the application for registration of the vehicle. This bill would additionally require the registration application to include an option for a deaf or hard of hearing person to include a decal depicting the International Symbol of Access for Hearing Loss referred to in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines on the registration card for his or her vehicle, and would require the registration card to include the decal if the person opts to include it on the application.
Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Existing law establishes the Employment First Policy, which is the policy that opportunities for integrated, competitive employment be given the highest priority for working age individuals with developmental disabilities, regardless of the severity of their disabilities. Existing law authorizes a consumer to choose a tailored day service or vouchered community-based training service, in lieu of any other regional center vendored day program, look-alike day program, supported employment program, or work activity program. Existing law requires a tailored day service to (1) include an individualized service design, as determined through the individual program plan (IPP) and approved by the regional center, that maximizes the consumer's individualized choices and needs and (2) encourage opportunities to further the development or maintenance of employment, volunteer activities, or pursuit of postsecondary education; maximize consumer direction of the service; and increase the consumer's ability to lead an integrated and inclusive life. This bill would authorize a consumer in a supported employment program or work activity program who has the stated goal of integrated competitive employment in his or her IPP to request to use tailored day services in conjunction with his or her existing program to achieve that goal, if specified criteria are met, including that the type, amount, and provider of tailored day service allowed under these provisions is determined through the IPP process. The bill would specify the maximum hours of tailored day services that may be authorized in conjunction with existing services under these provisions. Existing law, until January 1, 2025, provides that the Legislature intends that in order to increase effectiveness and opportunity to gain meaningful integrated competitive employment opportunities, habilitation services shall also provide community-based vocational development services. Existing law requires the department to conduct a 4-year demonstration project in up to 5 volunteer regional centers to determine whether the provision of community-based vocational development services increases integrated competitive employment outcomes and reduces purchase of service costs for working age adults. As part of the pilot program, existing law requires a plan to be developed if community-based vocational development services are determined to be a necessary step to achieve a supported employment outcome, and provides for the hourly rate for the services and hours of participation that may be provided. Existing law requires the department to secure federal Medicaid funding for these services prior to implementation of the project and requires these provisions to be implemented only to the extent that federal financial participation is available and any necessary federal approvals have been obtained. This bill would delete the provisions stating legislative intent and requiring the department to conduct a demonstration project, thereby implementing the provisions that require habilitation services to also provide community-based vocational development services effective statewide without a demonstration project. The bill would also delete the January 1, 2025, repeal date, and would thereby extend the operation of these provisions indefinitely.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law establishes a specified energy metering program that is available to an eligible fuel cell customer-generator, as defined. A fuel cell electrical generating facility is eligible for the program if it has a capacity of not more than 5 megawatts. Existing law requires that an electrical corporation file with the commission a standard tariff providing for this energy metering for eligible fuel cell customer-generators and make the tariff available to eligible fuel cell customer-generators upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the total cumulative rated generating capacity of the eligible fuel cell electrical generating facilities receiving service pursuant to the tariff reaches a specified level. Existing law provides that a fuel cell electrical generating facility is not eligible for the tariff unless it commences operation on or before December 31, 2021. This bill would change "eligible fuel cell electrical generating facility" to "eligible electrical generating facility" and would additionally make eligible a facility that electromechanically converts fuel to electricity for purposes of the above-described energy metering program. The bill would make conforming and nonsubstantive changes. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the program that is expanded under the provisions of this bill would be implemented through a decision or order of the commission, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the application of a crime. 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 measure would recognize August 6, 2017, as the 52nd anniversary of the signing of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.