(1) Existing law establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the Electricity Oversight Board with jurisdiction related to energy matters. Existing law also provides the Office of Planning and Research, the Department of General Services, and the Office of the State Architect with jurisdiction over certain energy-related matters. This bill would abolish the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the Electricity Oversight Board. The bill would create the Department of Energy, headed by a Secretary of Energy, and would create the California Energy Board within the department. The bill would provide for the creation of various divisions and subdivisions as deemed necessary by the secretary. The secretary would be appointed by, and hold office at the pleasure of, the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would require the Governor to appoint the initial secretary by January 31, 2011. The bill would authorize the Governor to appoint an Assistant Secretary of Energy who would serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The bill would require the department to create a legal subcommittee comprised of specified members to develop a single statewide position on litigation concerning energy matters. The bill would provide that the California Energy Board consists of the following members: the Secretary of Energy who would be the chair of the board, 4 members of the public with qualifications, as specified, appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, and the President of the California Public Utilities Commission. The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency and the President of the California Public Utilities Commission would serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the board. The bill would specify that the public members shall serve for a term of 4 years. The bill would require the board to nominate, for appointment by the Governor, a public adviser to the board who would serve for a 3-year term and may be removed upon the joint concurrence of 4 board members and the Governor. The bill would transfer certain authority and duties of the former Electricity Oversight Board to the Secretary of Energy and the Department of Energy. The bill would vest the new department and the California Energy Board with the powers, duties, responsibilities, obligations, liabilities, jurisdiction, and rights and privileges of the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, as specified. The bill would also transfer jurisdiction of certain energy-related matters from the Office of Planning and Research, the Department of General Services, and the Office of the State Architect to the Department of Energy or the California Energy board, as specified. (2) Existing law established the Katz Safe Schoolbus Clean Fuel Efficiency Demonstration Program to assist local educational agencies in replacing older schoolbuses with schoolbuses meeting federal safety standards that operate with greater efficiency and fewer adverse air emissions. This bill would repeal this program. (3) Existing law establishes the Small Business Energy Efficient Refrigeration Program and the State Solar Medallion Passive Design Competition. This bill would repeal the program and competition. (4) The California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority Act establishes the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority and authorizes the authority to take various actions related to the generation and transmission of electricity and renewable energy, energy efficiency, and conservation programs. This bill would repeal that act. (5) Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to administer federal funds for programs to provide energy assistance to qualified low-income households and to administer the community services block grant program. This bill would delete obsolete provisions. (6) The bill would make conforming changes in existing law. (7) The bill would provide that the provisions of the bill are severable.
Sponsored bills
This measure would declare April 2010 as Financial Aid and Literacy Month to raise public awareness about the need for increased financial literacy.
Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires each legislative body of a local agency to provide the time and place for holding regular meetings. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
This measure would recognize the week of April 18, 2010, through April 24, 2010, as Crime Victims' Rights Week.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations and the courts of the state to recognize as valid and binding any labor-management agreements meeting prescribed criteria for certain employers or groups of employers, except as provided. This bill would make the above-described provisions applicable to the state in its capacity as an employer.
(1) 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 90 days after the act takes effect, 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. (2) The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act established the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. The authority is authorized to do all things necessary and convenient to carry out the purposes of the act. The authority is also required to establish a renewable energy program to provide financial assistance, as defined, to certain entities for projects to generate new and renewable energy sources, develop clean and efficient distributed generation, and demonstrate the economic feasibility of new technologies. Existing law provides that the transfer of title of tangible personal property constituting a project under the act to the authority by a participating party or the lease or transfer of tangible personal property constituting a project under the act by the authority to a participating party pursuant to the act is not a "sale" or "purchase" for the purposes of the Sales and Use Tax Law. This bill would include as a project, machinery, or equipment that is utilized for the design, technology transfer, manufacture, production, assembly, distribution, or service of an alternative source component. The bill would include as "financial assistance" for the purposes of the act purchases, sales, or lease arrangements that qualify for exclusion from the Sales and Use Tax Law. The bill would require the authority to consider specified criteria in approving a project for which the purchase, sale, or lease of tangible personal property qualifies for the sales and use tax exclusion. The bill would require, when the sales and use tax exclusion for projects approved by the authority exceed $100,000,000 annually, the authority to provide a 20-day notice to the Legislature for additional project approval.
Under existing law, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) in the Natural Resources Agency consists of 5 members appointed by the Governor. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change in that provision.
Existing law establishes various categorical education programs and appropriates the funding for those programs in the annual Budget Act. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the 2008–09 to 2012–13 fiscal years, inclusive, to apportion from the amount provided in the annual Budget Act for specified categorical education programs an amount based on the same relative proportion that the local educational agency received in the 2008–09 fiscal year for those programs and authorizes school districts, for those fiscal years, to use these funds, with specified exceptions, for any educational purpose, to the extent permitted by federal law. Existing law, for those fiscal years, deems local educational agencies that use these categorical education program funds for any educational purpose to be in compliance with the program and funding requirements of those categorical education programs. Existing law, as a condition of receiving the categorical education program funds that may be used for any educational purpose, requires school districts and county offices of education, at a regularly scheduled, open, public hearing, to take testimony from the public, discuss, and approve or disapprove the proposed use of funding. Existing law requires a local educational agency to report expenditures, as specified, to indicate the activities for which these funds were expended and requires the department annually to collect and provide this information to the appropriate legislative policy and budget committees and the Department of Finance. This bill would establish the 3-year Maximum Categorical Education Flexibility Pilot Program in which up to 3 school districts would be selected to participate. To be eligible for selection, a school district would be required to meet certain preconditions, including developing a plan or initiative to accelerate pupils' progress to proficiency that includes specified goals. A school district selected to participate would be required to agree to demonstrate significant progress toward accelerating pupils' progress toward proficiency on California's academic standards over the 3-year pilot program period, a narrowing of the achievement gap in its federally recognized subgroups, fiscal solvency, positive growth on the district API, improvement in its college entrance rate, and an increase in its graduation rate. The bill would require the Superintendent to apportion to the participating school districts special apportionments equal to the amounts of funding those school districts received in the 2009–10 fiscal year for specified programs, including the Economic Impact Aid Program, the Class Size Reduction Program, and Transportation Programs, except special education pupil transportation. A participating school district would be allowed to use the special apportionments for any purpose related to improving pupil achievement and academic instruction and would be required to implement an open and transparent process that allows public input so as to notify parents, staff, and the community of discussions and pending decisions related to the flexible use of categorical education program funds. A participating school district would be deemed to be in compliance with the program and funding requirements associated with the categorical education programs included in the pilot program, except that a participating school district that receives funding for economic impact aid would be required to continue to designate staff to coordinate services and programs for English learners, including the home language survey, and to continue in existence parent advisory committees and schoolsite councils. A participating school district would be required to submit an evaluative annual report to the department, the state board, the Governor, and the Legislature and to submit to the department an annual expenditure report. The Superintendent would be required to contract for an independent evaluation of the pilot program that would consist of an interim evaluation report and a final independent evaluation report that identifies the success and failures of the pilot program and makes recommendations regarding improving the pilot program and whether the program should be continued. The bill would prohibit the waiver of any provisions of the pilot program.
Existing law provides that it is unlawful for any person to willfully cause or permit any child to suffer, or inflict thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or having the care or custody of any child, willfully cause or permit the person or health of that child to be injured, or willfully cause or permit that child to be placed in a situation where his or her person or health is endangered. This conduct is a misdemeanor or felony if it is done under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death to the child, and a misdemeanor if these circumstances are not present. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to pass an extension of the COBRA premium subsidy enacted under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in order to continue to allow terminated workers to maintain their employer-based group health care coverage.