This measure would recognize February 2010 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and contributions that African Americans make to their communities.
The Enterprise Zone Act provides for the designation of enterprise zones by the Department of Community Housing and Development, based on the department's approval of applications from a city, county, or city and county with a geographic area meeting certain criteria. Certain entities within a designated enterprise zone may receive regulatory, tax, and other incentives for private investment and employment. Existing law provides that no more than 42 enterprise zones be designated at any one time pursuant to the act. Upon the expiration or termination of a designation, existing law authorizes the department to designate another enterprise zone to maintain a total of 42 enterprise zones. This bill would authorize the department to designate one special enterprise zone within the City of Fremont consisting of a geographical area encompassing a facility that manufactures automobiles and to designate, until June 30, 2010, an additional 10 special enterprise zones limited to one nonrenewable 15-year term. The bill would exclude these enterprise zones from the calculation of the overall number of enterprise zones authorized under the act. The bill would also make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute.
Existing law provides that grand theft is committed when domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops are taken of a value exceeding $250. Existing law provides a method for establishing the value of avocados or citrus fruit for purposes of this offense based on wholesale value. This bill would provide that this same method may be used to establish the value of the other products listed above for purposes of determining if a taking is grand theft. This bill would incorporate amendments to Section 487 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 2372, if both this bill and AB 2372 are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is enacted after AB 2372.
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.
The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 requires a board of retirement, or a board of retirement and the board of investment, with appointed members to annually adopt a budget covering the entire expense of administration of the retirement system and prohibits the expense incurred in any year from exceeding 18100 of 1% of the total assets of the retirement system. Existing law provides that expenditures for legal services or costs of litigation are not considered to be a cost of administration of the retirement system. Existing law prohibits expenses incurred in any year for expenditures for computer software and hardware and computer technology consulting services, in support of these products, from exceeding the greater of the sum of 18100 of 1% of the total assets of the retirement system plus $1,000,000 or 23100 of 1% of the total assets of the retirement system. This bill would prohibit expenses for the costs of administration of the retirement system incurred in any year from exceeding the greater of 21100 of 1% of the accrued actuarial liability of the retirement system or $2,000,000, as adjusted annually by a specified annual cost-of-living adjustment. This bill would eliminate the exclusion of expenditures for legal services and costs of litigation from the costs of administration of the retirement system and would, instead, exclude from those costs of administration expenditures for computer software and hardware and computer technology consulting services in support of these products.
Existing law establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments include the California State University, the campuses of which are administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, which are administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes them to provide instruction to students at community college campuses. Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, authorizes the community colleges to grant associate in arts and associate in science degrees. The act also requires the regents, the trustees, and the board of governors to have as a fundamental policy the maintenance of a healthy and expanded program to increase the number of transfer students from community colleges. This bill would enact the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which, commencing with the 2011–12 academic year, would require a student that receives an associate degree for transfer to be deemed eligible for transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets prescribed requirements. The bill would condition a community college district's receipt of state apportionment funds on its development and granting of associate degrees for transfer, unless each of the state's community college districts waives reimbursement for specified state-mandated costs of implementing the bill in accordance with a prescribed procedure. This bill would prohibit a community college district from imposing any requirements, in addition to these requirements, for a student to be eligible for the associate degree for transfer, and would prohibit remedial noncollegiate level coursework from being counted towards the units required for the associate degree for transfer. This bill would require the California State University to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets the requirements for the associate degree for transfer. This bill would not guarantee a student admission for specified majors or campuses, but would require the California State University to grant a student priority admission to his or her local California State University campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the California State University campus to which the student is admitted. This bill would authorize the California State University to require a transferring student to take additional coursework at the California State University in specified circumstances, and would prohibit the California State University from requiring a transferring student to repeat courses that are similar to those taken at the community college that counted towards the units required for the associate degree for transfer. This bill would also require the Legislative Analyst's Office to review and report to specified legislative committees and subcommittees, within a prescribed time period, on specified outcomes and recommendations related to this act. By requiring a community college district to grant the associate degree for transfer in exchange for receipt of state apportionment funds, 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, 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.
(1) 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 also 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 exempt from this prohibition a county road located in an unincorporated area in the County of Inyo unless the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol finds that designating a highway, or a portion of a highway, in the county would create a potential traffic safety hazard. (2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Inyo.
Existing law establishes the California State University and its various campuses under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University. Existing law requires the California State University to offer undergraduate and graduate instruction through the master's degree in the liberal arts and sciences and professional education, including teacher education. This bill, until July 1, 2018, would authorize the California State University to establish a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree pilot program at 3 campuses chosen by the Board of Trustees to award the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The bill would distinguish the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the doctor of philosophy degree offered at the University of California. The bill would require the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree pilot program to be designed to enable professionals to earn the degree while working full time, train nurses for advanced practice, and prepare clinical faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing programs. The bill would require the California State University to enroll and maintain no more than 90 full-time equivalent students in the degree pilot program at all 3 campuses combined. The bill would require initial funding to come from existing budgets, without diminishing the quality of undergraduate programs or reducing enrollment therein. The bill would require the California State University, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the Department of Finance to jointly conduct a statewide evaluation of the degree pilot program and report the results to the Legislature and the Governor on or before January 1, 2017.
Under existing law regulating the administration of the Personal Income Tax Law, individual taxpayers are allowed to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds or accounts, including, among others, the Veterans' Quality of Life Fund. Existing law requires the expenditure of all moneys contributed to the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for administrative costs and for distribution into the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund for each of the veterans homes, as provided. This bill would repeal those provisions, and instead allow individuals to designate on their tax returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the California Veterans Homes Fund, which would be created by this bill. However, the bill would provide that a voluntary contribution designation for this fund may not be added on the tax return until another voluntary contribution designation is removed from that return. This bill would, like the expenditure of all moneys contributed to the Veterans' Quality of Life Fund, require the expenditure of all moneys contributed to the California Veterans Homes Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for administrative costs and for distribution into the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Fund for each of the veterans homes, as provided. This bill would require any funds remaining in the Veterans' Quality of Life Fund to be transferred to the California Veterans Homes Fund. This bill would provide that these voluntary contribution provisions be repealed on January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the taxable year the fund first appears on the personal income tax return. This bill would further provide that these provisions would be repealed for taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the calendar year in which the Franchise Tax Board estimates by September 1 that the contributions made on returns filed in that calendar year will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for subsequent taxable years.
Existing law authorizes the Director of Pesticide Regulation to adopt regulations to establish the minimum requirements of education, continuing education, training, experience, and examination for applicants for any license or certificate, or renewal of any license or certificate, issued by the director pertaining to pesticides. This bill would provide that a regulation adopted or amended pertaining to continuing education requirements shall establish minimum course requirements related to pesticides and pest management and would require the director to approve courses that include certain subjects in the context of pesticides and pest management. The bill would require the director to act within 15 business days of receipt to approve or reject continuing education courses submitted to meet the requirements of law pertaining to pesticides.
