The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act and, among other provisions, establishes new retirement formulas that may not be exceeded by a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan for employees first hired on or after January 1, 2013. PEPRA exempts from its provisions certain public employees whose collective bargaining rights are subject to specified provisions of federal law until a specified federal district court decision on a certification by the United States Secretary of Labor, or until January 1, 2016, whichever is sooner. This bill would extend indefinitely that exemption for those public employees, whose collective bargaining rights are subject to specified provisions of federal law and who became a member of a state or local public retirement system prior to December 30, 2014. The bill would exempt these employees from PEPRA without regard to date of hire upon issuance of a specified federal district court decision.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to disburse funds, appropriated to the department for the purpose of supporting county veterans service officers pursuant to the annual Budget Act, on a pro rata basis, to a county that complies with certain conditions. This bill would require the department, no later than July 1, 2016, to develop an allocation formula based upon performance standards that encourage innovation and reward outstanding service by county veterans service officers, and would require those moneys to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in accordance with that formula, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually report to the Legislature the efficacy, return on investment, work volume, and regional impact of the subvention funds on each county that receives those funds, as specified. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions and would make conforming changes.
This measure would proclaim April 12, 2016, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.
This measure would encourage teaching sun safety practices to children to enable them to identify the importance of sun safety, practice strategies to protect against the harmful effects of the sun, and understand why and how to stay safe from overexposure to the sun.
The California Public Records Act requires that public records, as defined, be open to inspection at all times during the office hours of a state or local agency and that every person has a right to inspect any public record, with specified exceptions. Existing law provides that the act shall not be construed to require the disclosure of specified information concerning utility customers of local agencies, except for certain purposes. This bill would remove requests for usage rates of industrial, institutional, and commercial water users from that exception to required disclosure. By increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 the month of June 2016 as Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, would recognize June 21, 2016, as The Longest Day in California, and would urge all residents to wear purple on this day to help spread global awareness of the Alzheimer's Association's vision of imagining a world without Alzheimer's disease.
This measure would recognize the year of 2016 as the 50th anniversary of California's community-based developmental services system, and would reaffirm the commitment of the Legislature to support this system. This measure would declare the importance of ensuring a sustainable system that protects the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities.
This measure would respectfully urge Congress to appropriate $248 million in funding to complete Phase 2 of the Calexico West Land Port of Entry reconfiguration and expansion project in order to realize the benefits the improvements of this project will have on the nation's economy.
Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge children to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of his or her parents or guardian, and establishes procedures to determine temporary placement of a dependent child. Existing law generally requires the court to order the social worker to provide designated child welfare services, including family reunification services, to the child and the child's mother and statutorily presumed father or guardians. Existing law provides that reunification services need not be provided to a parent or guardian when the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that a specified event has occurred, including that the child has been adjudicated a dependent as a result of severe sexual abuse or the infliction of severe physical harm to the child, a sibling, or a half sibling by a parent or guardian, and the court makes a factual finding that it would not benefit the child to pursue reunification services with the offending parent or guardian. This bill would also provide that reunification services need not be provided when the court finds that the parent or guardian knowingly participated in, or permitted, the sexual exploitation of the child, as prescribed, except if the parent or guardian demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she was coerced into permitting, or participating in, the sexual exploitation of the child. Existing law requires the court, if it does not order reunification services pursuant to specified provisions, to determine at the dispositional hearing if a hearing shall be set in order to determine the most appropriate plan for the child. This bill would require the court to make that determination if it does not order reunification services because it found that the parent or guardian knowingly participated in, or permitted, the sexual exploitation of the child, as prescribed.