Rep. Joe Coto

This measure would memorialize the Legislature's support of legislation currently pending in the United States Congress that would protect the Pacific Coast from new offshore oil drilling. This measure would also memorialize the Legislature's opposition to the proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that would weaken California's role in energy siting decisions due to those policies.

Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose a tax on every distributor, as defined, at the rate of one cent ($0.01) per teaspoon of added caloric sweetener in the bottled sweetened beverage or concentrate sold or offered for sale to a retailer in this state, and on a retailer who sells bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate in this state to consumers on which the tax has not been paid by a distributor. This bill would exempt from the tax the sale, use, or consumption in this state of bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate that the state is prohibited from taxing, as provided. The tax would be administered by the State Board of Equalization and would be collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require the board to deposit all taxes, penalties, and interest collected, less refund and administrative costs, in the Pediatric Obesity Fund, which this bill would create. This bill would require all moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the State Department of Education for distribution of grants to eligible school districts for the purpose of employing a school nurse or health educator and creating a healthful diet and lifestyle plan for the school. This bill would require the Director of Finance to transfer, an unspecified amount from the General Fund to the board, to implement the collection of the taxes imposed by this act, and would require that amount to be repaid by the board with interest from the taxes collected. Because this bill would expand the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the consumption of sweetened beverages and obesity. 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 result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.

Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose a tax on every distributor, as defined, at the rate of $0.01 per teaspoon of added caloric sweetener in bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate sold or offered for sale to a retailer in this state, or on a retailer who sells bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate in this state to consumers on which the tax has not been paid by a distributor. This bill would exempt from the tax the sale, use, or consumption in this state of bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate that the state is prohibited from taxing, as provided. The tax would be administered by the State Board of Equalization and would be collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require the board to deposit all taxes, penalties, and interest collected, less refund and administrative costs, in the Children's Health Promotion Fund, which this bill would create. This bill would require all moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the State Department of Public Health for distribution of grants to eligible school districts for the purposes of statewide childhood obesity prevention activities and programs. Because this bill would expand the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the consumption of sweetened beverages, childhood obesity, and dental disease. This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. 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 take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.

Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, restricts the employment of licensed physicians and surgeons and podiatrists by a corporation or other artificial legal entity, subject to specified exemptions, and makes it a crime to practice medicine without a license. Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2011, a pilot project to allow qualified district hospitals that, among other things, provide more than 50% of patient days to the care of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and uninsured patients, to employ a physician and surgeon, if the hospital does not interfere with, control, or otherwise direct the professional judgment of the physician and surgeon. The pilot project authorizes the direct employment of a total of 20 physicians and surgeons by those hospitals to provide medically necessary services in rural and medically underserved communities, and specifies that each qualified district hospital may employ up to 2 physicians and surgeons, subject to specified requirements. This bill would delete that pilot project and would instead, until January 1, 2021, authorize a health care district, as defined, and a clinic owned or operated by a health care district, as specified, to employ physicians and surgeons if the health care district's service area includes a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or a Medically Underserved Population (MUP) , or has been federally designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) ; the district board conducts a public hearing and adopts a specified resolution declaring the need for the district to recruit and directly employ one or more physicians and surgeons; and the executive officer of the district provides specified documentation to the Medical Board of California. Upon receipt of that documentation, the bill would require the board to approve the employment of up to 5 primary or specialty care physicians and surgeons by the district, and, upon receipt of additional documentation after that employment, to approve an additional 5 primary or specialty care physicians and surgeons. The bill would provide that a district may, until December 31, 2020, enter into, renew, or extend any employment contract with a physician and surgeon for up to 10 years. The bill would require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health and the board, to report to the Legislature by June 1, 2018, with regard to the efficacy of the employment of physicians and surgeons by health care districts, as specified.

This measure would designate the first week of March of each year as Cuss Free Week.

Existing law, the Public School Performance Accountability Program, provides a state assessment program for schools, an intervention program for low-performing schools, and a reward system for high-achieving schools, as specified. This bill would require that any primary language assessment developed by the department and administered to limited-English-proficient students, as identified pursuant to existing law, on or after July 1, 2013, be included in the state's assessment system or any successor system and in the state's federal and state accountability system and any successor system. The bill would require the results of the primary language assessment to be used in any successor measure or results reported for the state's assessment systems and in any other successor measure, as specified. The bill would also require the results to be used in any measure, index, or results reported for the state's federal and state accountability system, or any successor system. These provisions would become operative on July 1, 2013. This bill would make various findings and declarations.

Existing law prohibits specified state and local officers and employees from being financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any board or body of which they are members; however, an officer or employee is not deemed to be interested in a contract if his or her interest meets specified criteria. This bill would provide that an independent contractor shall not be deemed to be interested in a contract as a result of the independent contractor's preparation, at the request of a governmental entity, of a document that serves a purpose independent of the contract or other specified documents.

This measure would recognize the Lunar New Year 4708 celebration.

(1) The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. This bill would, until December 31, 2021, enact the California Smart Regulation Act. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2011, that a state agency determine how many regulations it imposes and, on or before December 31, 2012, to reduce the total number of regulations it has identified by 33%. The bill would require an agency to give priority to eliminating regulations that increase the regulatory burden on businesses and the business climate. The bill would also require, until December 31, 2021, that any new regulation proposed by an agency also eliminate another regulation. (2) Existing law establishes the Bureau of State Audits, which is headed by the State Auditor and has specified statutory duties. Existing law establishes the State Audit Fund which is continuously appropriated for the expenses of the State Auditor. This bill would require an agency to submit a report of the regulations eliminated or identified for elimination to the State Auditor. The bill would require the State Auditor to perform an evaluation of the identified regulations and determine, in a report submitted to the Legislature, whether the removal of the regulations will result in a positive impact on the regulatory burden on businesses and the business climate. This bill would require the Legislature to appropriate funds to the State Auditor sufficient to fulfill these duties. (3) This bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2022, as specified.

The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 provides for workforce investment activities, including activities in which states may participate. Existing law contains various programs for job training and employment investment, including work incentive and employment training outreach programs. Existing law, the California Workforce Investment Act declares that it is the intent of the Legislature to deliver comprehensive workforce services to jobseekers, students, and employers through a system of one-stop career centers to, among other things, make job outreach, intake, job search and placement assistance, and other related services available in one location. Existing law provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits to eligible unemployed persons during the period that the person is unemployed, and requires the Employment Development Department to implement and administer the unemployment compensation program. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2010, to provide in-person unemployment benefit assistance in at least one comprehensive state one-stop career center in each workforce area, as prescribed. The bill would require that the unemployment benefit assistance services required to be provided at these one-stop career centers be funded with existing moneys available to the department for the administration of the unemployment compensation program.