Under existing law, with specified exceptions, revenues derived from the assessment of fines and penalties by any state agency may not be expended unless the Legislature specifically provides authority for the expenditure of these funds in the annual Budget Act or other legislation. Existing law directs that various fines and penalties be deposited in various special funds related to the agency that collected the revenue. Existing law creates the General Fund to consist of money received into the State Treasury that is not required by law to be credited to any other fund. This bill would require, notwithstanding any other law, that any fine or penalty imposed by the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the State Air Resources Board, or the State Water Resources Control Board for a violation of a regulation adopted by that state agency be deposited into the General Fund. The bill would also make a statement of findings.
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Existing law requires the Department of General Services to maintain an inventory of real property held by the state, and prescribes the disposition of surplus state property. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Under existing law, businesses are required to obtain various licenses from regulatory agencies. Existing law also requires state agencies to take specified actions, including, but not limited to, designating a small business liaison, to assist small businesses achieve compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. This bill would create the Business Master License Center, which would have prescribed duties, including, but not limited to, developing and administering a computerized one-stop master license system capable of storing, retrieving, and exchanging license information, as well as issuing and renewing master licenses, as specified. The bill would permit the Governor to appoint a 3rd-party facilitator from the business community, to provide oversight over the creation of the center and the development of its master license system. This bill would charge license applicants, in addition to any other fees or deposits required to obtain a particular license, a master license administrative fee in specified amounts, to be deposited into the Master License Fund, which this bill would create. This bill would require that the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used only to administer the Business Master License Center.
This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.
Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, provides for the licensing and regulation of contractors by the Contractors' State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes the board to appoint a registrar of contractors and requires a workers' compensation insurer to report to the registrar specified information regarding a licensee's workers' compensation policy. This bill would, additionally, require a workers' compensation insurer to report to the registrar a licensee whose workers' compensation insurance policy is canceled by the insurer if the insurer has completed a premium audit or investigation, a material misrepresentation has been made by the insured that results in financial harm to the insurer, and no reimbursement has been paid by the insured to the insurer. The bill would provide that that information is not subject to the California Public Records Act. The bill would also provide that a willful or deliberate disregard and violation of workers' compensation insurance laws constitutes a cause for disciplinary action by the registrar against the licensee. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law requires private employers to secure the payment of compensation by obtaining and maintaining workers' compensation insurance or to self-insure as an individual employer or as one employer in a group of employers. The Contractors' State License Law requires every licensed contractor to have on file at all times with the Contractors' State License Board a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance, or a statement certifying that he or she has no employees and is not required to obtain or maintain workers' compensation insurance coverage. This bill would require, at the time of renewal, an active contractor licensee with an exemption for workers' compensation insurance on file with the board to either recertify the licensee's exemption or to provide a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certificate of Self-Insurance. The bill would also provide for retroactive license renewal, as specified, for otherwise acceptable license renewal applications when the applicant provides the required documentation within 30 days after notification by the board of the renewal rejection.
Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor on a public works project to keep payroll records regarding his or her employees, and requires that these records contain information specified by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Existing law requires certain personal identification information, as specified, to be removed when certified payroll records are made available for inspection to the public or to a public agency. This bill would require nonredacted copies of certified payroll records to be provided, upon request, to any agency included in, and for the purposes of, the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy, or to any law enforcement agency, but would require any copies of records or certified payroll made available for inspection and furnished upon request to the public by these agencies to be marked or redacted to prevent disclosure of an individual's name, address, and social security number. The bill would also provide that an employer is not liable in a civil action for any reasonable act or omission taken in good faith in compliance with these requirements. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 1776 of the Labor Code, proposed by AB 551, to be operative only if AB 551 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last.
This measure would recognize October 2011 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and urge all Californians to take a stand against domestic violence.
This measure would urge the United States government to consider the California jobs and economic stimulus provided by the California floriculture industry when advancing free trade agreements, specifically with Colombia.
This measure would proclaim February 28, 2011, as Rare Disease Day.