 The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including certain credits that are allowed in modified conformity to credits allowed by federal income tax laws. Federal income tax laws allow a refundable earned income tax credit for certain low-income individuals who have earned income and who meet certain other requirements. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, and before January 1, 2021, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, would provide for an earned income credit to an eligible individual that is equal to unspecified percentages of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law that would only be allowed in those taxable years in which an appropriation is made by the Legislature. The bill and would provide that in those years in which an appropriation is made by the Legislature, the credit would be refundable, as provided. The bill would also make findings and declarations.
Sponsored bills
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This bill would provide that moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, upon appropriation, may be made available for expenditure by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for the purposes of maintaining the current level of biomass power generation or geothermal energy generation in the state and revitalizing currently idle facilities in strategically located regions. The bill would establish requirements for an applicant to receive available funding for a facility's eligible electrical generation.
Existing law prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles from issuing a commercial driver's license to any person to operate a commercial motor vehicle unless the person has passed a written and driving test for the operation of a commercial motor vehicle that complies with the minimum standards established by the federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 and specified federal regulations, and has satisfied all other requirements of that act as well as any other requirements imposed by state law. This bill, commencing January 1, 2018, would also require a person to successfully complete a course of instruction from a commercial driver training institution or program offered by an employer with an approved course of instruction that has been certified by the department before he or she is issued a commercial driver's license, except as specified. The bill would require the course of instruction to include, at a minimum, standards necessary to ensure a driver is proficient in safely operating a commercial vehicle. This bill would also require a commercial driver's license applicant to successfully complete a written and driving test, as specified. Existing law, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, provides for the regulation of private postsecondary educational institutions by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education in the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act exempts an institution from its provision if any of a list of specific criteria are met. This bill, commencing January 1, 2018, would remove the exemption from the provisions of the act for an institution that is certified by the Department of Motor Vehicles to offer a course of instruction to prepare students to obtain a commercial driver's license, thereby making the act applicable to the institution.
Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing federal law requires that a child receiving benefits under SNAP be certified as eligible for free school lunches and breakfasts without further application. Existing law requires a county welfare department to compile a list of emergency food providers and make that list available upon request. This bill would instead require a county human services agency to compile a list of emergency and supplemental food assistance providers, as specified. The bill would also require a county human services agency to inform households applying for CalFresh that if the household is certified for CalFresh, specified children in the household are income-eligible for the WIC Program and all children in the household are directly certified for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program without further application. The bill would also require the Department of Social Services to inform all CalFresh households annually, prior to the end of the school year, about the summer meal program using information the department receives the State Department of Education and a method deemed appropriate by the department. The bill would require the department to implement these provisions by all-county letters or similar instructions beginning no later than March 1, 2016, until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt regulations on or before October 1, 2017. The bill would also include a statement of legislative findings and declarations. By increasing the duties of county human services agencies, the 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.
Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy and prescribes the membership and functions and duties of the conservancy with respect to preservation of coastal resources in the state. This bill would enact the Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016, which would require the State Water Resources Control Board to establish and coordinate the Algal Bloom Task Force, comprised of specified representatives of state agencies, including the conservancy, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, and would prescribe the functions and duties of the task force. The bill would require the task force to review the risks and negative impacts of toxic algal blooms and microcystin pollution and to submit a summary of its findings and recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, and the secretary on or before January 1, 2018. The act would require the task force, before providing funding recommendations or submitting a summary of findings, to notify the public about ongoing activities and provide opportunities for public review and comment on applied research, projects, and programs. The act would authorize the conservancy, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the State Water Resources Control Board to enter into contracts and provide grants, upon appropriation, from specified bond funds available under the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 or from other appropriate funds for applied research, projects, and programs, recommended by the task force, aimed at preventing or sustainably mitigating toxic blooms of cyanotoxins and microcystin pollution in the waters of the state.
This measure would declare June 6, 2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week and would urge all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues and to take action to prevent their spread.
This measure would commemorate the centennial of the founding of Locke, California, would recognize and honor Locke, California, as the last remaining Chinatown in North America, and would urge all Californians to learn about the important history of Locke, California, and its inhabitants.
This measure would congratulate the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls on the celebration of its 50th anniversary, and recognize and commend the commission for its various contributions and accomplishments.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support H.R. 167, the federal Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, in order to provide a long-term, stable source of funding for federal agencies to conduct the necessary fuels management on national forest lands, while retaining resources to suppress catastrophic wildfires.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact legislation allowing immigrants to serve in the military if they are eligible under the President's Executive Order for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Executive Order for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents.