The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state in the amount of 1% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided, for a specified amount of time. Existing law, operative until June 30, 2011, also imposes an additional tax to the vehicle license fee equal to 0.15% of the market value of specified vehicles, as determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, to be deposited in the General Fund and transferred to the Local Safety and Protection Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would appropriate $506,400,000 from the General Fund to be deposited in the Local Safety and Protection Account, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
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The Joint Exercise of Powers Act authorizes two or more public agencies, if each is authorized by their respective legislative bodies, to enter into an agreement to jointly exercise any power common to those two agencies. The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that meetings of the legislative body of a local agency, including a joint powers authority, be open and public, with specified exceptions authorizing closed sessions for specified purposes. Existing law permits a joint powers agency to include in its joint powers agreement provisions authorizing (1) any member of the legislative body of a member local agency to disclose information obtained during a closed session of the joint powers agency that has direct financial or liability implications for that member local agency to that agency's legal counsel or to other members of that agency's legislative body, as specified, or (2) any designated alternate member of the legislative body of the joint powers agency that is also a member of the legislative body of a member local agency, who is attending in lieu of that agency's regularly appointed member, to attend closed sessions of the joint powers agency, as specified. This bill would repeal and recast those provisions to additionally authorize a joint powers agency to include in its joint powers agreement provisions authorizing (1) any designated alternate member who is attending in lieu of the appointed member to attend closed sessions of the joint powers authority, or (2) any appointed or designated alternate member of the local agency to disclose information obtained during a closed session of the joint powers authority that has direct financial or liability implications for that member local agency to that agency's legal counsel, or to those persons who are present in a closed session of that member local agency. This bill would also make various, nonsubstantive, conforming changes.
This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.
Existing law, as amended by Proposition 21, adopted March 7, 2000, and by Proposition 83, adopted November 7, 2006, provides for a list of crimes called "violent felonies" and "serious felonies." Other existing law provides specified enhancements to the punishments of certain repeat, state-prison bound offenders with prior violent or serious felony convictions. The initiative statutes provide that any amendment of these provisions by the Legislature shall require a 23 vote of the membership of each house. Existing law defines battery as any willful or unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another. Existing law provides that battery committed against a custodial officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, process server, traffic officer, or animal control officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties, as specified, is punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. Existing law provides that battery against a peace officer, as specified, is punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would add felony battery against the above-named persons to the list of "serious felonies" and to the list of "violent felonies." Existing law specifies, for purposes of the sentence enhancements specified above, that the statutes comprising the lists of violent and serious felonies be interpreted as they existed at the time the provisions were enacted, including amendments made to those statutes during the 2005–06 Regular Session of the Legislature, as specified. This bill would likewise require those statutes to be interpreted as they would be amended following the enactment of this bill for purposes of sentence enhancements. By expanding the punishments for existing crimes, 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.
This measure would designate that January 16, 2012, be observed as the official memorial of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth, commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.
Existing law authorizes an off-highway motor vehicle that has been issued a plate or device to be operated or driven upon a highway under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes various public entities, and the Director of Parks and Recreation, to designate a highway, or portion thereof, for the combined use of regular vehicular traffic and off-highway motor vehicles if certain requirements are met. Existing law prohibits a highway from being designated for this combined use for a distance of more than 3 miles. This bill would, until January 1, 2017, authorize the County of Inyo to establish a pilot project that would exempt from this prohibition specified combined-use highways, except as provided, in the unincorporated area in the County of Inyo so that the highways can be used to link existing off-highway motor vehicle trails and trailheads on federal Bureau of Land Management or United States Forest Service lands, and to link off-highway motor vehicle recreational-use areas with necessary service and lodging facilities, in order to provide a unified linkage of trail systems for off-highway motor vehicles, among other things, as prescribed. The bill would authorize the pilot project to include the use of a state highway, subject to the approval of the Department of Transportation, or the crossing of a highway, and would require the County of Inyo to indemnify the state, as specified. The bill would require the County of Inyo, in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Parks and Recreation, not later than January 1, 2016, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot project, and containing specified information.
Existing law authorizes school districts to provide specified medical services in connection with athletic events that are under the jurisdiction of, or sponsored or controlled by, school districts. These services include medical or hospital insurance for pupils injured while participating in athletic activities and ambulance service for pupils, instructors, spectators, and other individuals in attendance at athletic activities. This bill would require a school district that elects to offer athletic programs to immediately remove from a school-sponsored athletic activity for the remainder of the day an athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury during that activity. The bill would prohibit the return of the athlete to that activity until he or she is evaluated by, and receives written clearance from, a licensed health care provider, as specified. The bill would require, on a yearly basis, a concussion and head injury information sheet to be signed and returned by the athlete and the athlete's parent or guardian before the athlete's initiating practice or competition. These provisions would not apply to an athlete engaged in an athletic activity during the regular schoolday or as part of a physical education course, as specified.
This measure would honor and recognize the service and sacrifice made by members of the Armed Forces and their families on the occasion of Armed Forces Day on May 21, 2011.
This resolution would recognize the contributions of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities to California, and would also recognize the importance of preserving Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and their traditions.
This measure would recognize September 2011 as Sickle Cell Awareness Month in California and would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to restore funding for sickle cell anemia centers and research and to make sickle cell anemia and other genetic hemoglobinopathies a public health priority.