Asm. Mark Stone

This measure would designate the bicycle-pedestrian path constructed as part of the project to widen State Highway Route 101 in the County of Ventura as the Ralph Fertig Memorial Bicycle-Pedestrian Path and the pedestrian undercrossing of State Highway Route 101 in the community of La Conchita in the County of Ventura as the Peter Douglas Coastal Access Way. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing each of these special designations and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost of the signs for which the donations were made, to erect those signs.

This measure would recognize that every child who needs comprehensive health and early intervention services and supports in order to achieve his or her developmental potential should have those services easily accessible, sufficient, responsive, timely, and of high quality. The measure would further urge the Legislature to leverage existing efforts and statutes to ensure an accountable, results-oriented, and coordinated network of resources in order to provide multidisciplinary early identification and intervention services and supports to California infants and toddlers.

This measure would designate the interchange at the junction of State Routes 99 and 166 in the County of Kern as the CHP Officer Gerald E. Dormaier Memorial Interchange. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

This measure would proclaim October 17, 2015, as Firefighters Memorial Day.

This measure would designate November 2015 as a month to raise awareness about the issue of medically fragile foster care children and adoptive placement children and the actions that every Californian can take to make a positive difference in these children's lives.

Existing law authorizes the expenditure of state funds for local assistance grants to cities, counties, and districts for the acquisition and development of various park and recreational areas and facilities. Existing law, the State Urban Parks and Healthy Communities Act, requires the Director of Parks and Recreation, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to develop a competitive grant program to assist state parks, state conservancies in existence as of January 1, 2003, urbanized and heavily urbanized local agencies, and community-based organizations within those jurisdictions, to provide outdoor educational opportunities to children. This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to establish, on or before March 30, 2016, an Outdoor Environmental Education and Recreation Grants Program with the purpose of increasing the ability of underserved and at-risk populations to participate in outdoor recreation and educational experiences by awarding grants to public organizations, nonprofit organizations, or both. The bill would require the director to develop criteria, procedures, and accountability measures as may be necessary to implement the program and to administer the program to ensure that priority is given to underserved populations, as specified. The bill would authorize the director to develop an advisory task force to assist in the development of the program and would require the director to give priority funding to outdoor environmental education and recreation programs that have specified attributes. This bill would authorize the director to accept private donations made for the support of the program and would authorize the director to solicit and accept private funding to help offset the costs of the program. The bill would provide that, to the extent specified bond funds are available for grants under the program, those funds shall be awarded to programs that meet the criteria of the State Urban Parks and Healthy Communities Act. The bill would require that all moneys received for the purposes of the program be deposited into the California Youth Outdoor Education Account, which would be created by the bill and would be continuously appropriated for purposes of the program, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would require the department to gather specified information from applicants each award year and to annually report this information, commencing on or before September 1, 2017, to the appropriate budget and fiscal committees of the Legislature.

Existing federal law provides for the allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law, with certain exceptions, provides eligible families with homeless assistance, including temporary shelter assistance for one period of up to 16 consecutive calendar days. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the temporary assistance be provided during one period of consecutive days, and instead would limit the temporary assistance to a maximum of 16 calendar days. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to issue an all-county letter or similar instructions by April 1, 2016, and to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill by July 1, 2017. The bill also would make conforming and technical, nonsubstantive changes. Because this bill would create new administrative duties for counties, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would, instead, provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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.

The California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 authorizes the State Lands Commission to enter into a lease for the extraction of oil or gas from state-owned tide and submerged lands in the California Coastal Sanctuary if the commission determines that the oil or gas deposits are being drained by means of producing wells upon adjacent federal lands and the lease is in the best interest of the state. This bill would enact the California Coastal Protection Act of 2015, which would delete this authorization. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.