Asm. Dan Logue

Existing provisions of the Water Code provide for the protection of designated areas within which water originates or related areas, including the "area of origin," "county of origin," "watershed protection," and "Delta protection" statutes. This measure would prohibit the Legislature from amending, repealing, or changing the scope or effect of any of those provisions unless the bill is passed in each house by a 23 vote of the membership of each house.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law define gross income as all income from whatever source derived, unless specifically excluded. This bill would, under both laws, exclude from the computation of gross income any voucher issued or specified payment made pursuant to the federal Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 received as a result of a purchase of a vehicle described in that act. This bill would make a legislative finding and declaration that it serves a public purpose, as specified. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to prepare wage withholding tables to be used by employers for purposes of withholding taxes on wages paid. Existing law requires, for wages paid on or after November 1, 2009, the wage withholding tables to produce a sum that is equal to 10% more than the sum specified for purposes of the withholding tables. Existing law allows, in lieu of the withholding tables, withholding at a rate of 6.6% with respect to supplemental wages and at a rate of 10.23% with respect to stock options and bonus payments paid on or after November 1, 2009. This bill would limit the requirement for the additional 10% wage withholding to wages paid on and after November 1, 2009, and before January 1, 2011. This bill would limit the withholding at a rate of 6.6% with respect to supplemental wages and at a rate of 10.23% with respect to stock options and bonus payments to payments made on or after November 1, 2009, and before January 1, 2011, and would, thereafter, reduce the rates to 6% and 9.3%, respectively.

Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered land, grass-covered land, or land that is covered with flammable material that is within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as designated by a local agency, to maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure. Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered land, grass-covered land, or land that is covered with flammable material, within a state responsibility area, to maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure. An insurance company that insures an occupied dwelling or occupied structure is authorized to require a greater distance, but this greater distance is prohibited from extending beyond the property line unless allowed by state law or a local ordinance, rule, or regulation. This bill would authorize a state public lands management agency, as defined, to establish a discretionary permitting or approval process containing specified elements, to consider an application from a person to maintain defensible space on state public lands if that person's defensible space requirement encroaches onto state public lands. The bill would authorize a state public lands management agency to impose conditions or limitations on maintenance of defensible space or that minimize any other adverse impact to the environment.

Under existing federal law, no state or local government entity or official may prohibit any government entity or official from sending federal authorities information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual. This bill would declare that any ordinance or policy of a city, county, city and county, or law enforcement agency that prevents or limits a law enforcement agency, or an employee of a law enforcement agency, from notifying federal authorities that a person may be within the country illegally is void and not of any force or effect. This bill would allow a resident of the local jurisdiction to apply for a writ of mandate to compel the entity to comply with these provisions.

Under existing law, with specified exceptions, revenues derived from the assessment of fines and penalties by any state agency may not be expended unless the Legislature specifically provides authority for the expenditure of these funds in the annual Budget Act or other legislation. Existing law directs that various fines and penalties be deposited in various special funds related to the agency that collected the revenue. Existing law creates the General Fund to consist of money received into the State Treasury that is not required by law to be credited to any other fund. This bill would require, notwithstanding any other law, that any fine or penalty imposed by the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the State Air Resources Board, or the State Water Resources Control Board for a violation of a regulation adopted by that state agency be deposited into the General Fund. The bill would also make a statement of findings.

Existing law establishes the California Small Business Board in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and specifies its duties, including, but not limited to, advising the Governor, the director, as specified, and the Small Business Advocate regarding issues and programs affecting California's small business community, and to hold public hearings in order to carry out the objectives of the agency. This bill would require the board, until January 1, 2013, as a priority area of focus and deliberation, to review the state's licensing and permitting regulations as they impact small businesses, with special attention to the regulatory impact on small business startups, and would require each state agency to cooperate with the board in that review. The bill would require the board to report a summary of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the Small Business Advocate, and the Legislature on July 1, 2011, July 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012, as specified.

Existing law provides for local health care districts which govern certain health care facilities. Each health care district has specific duties and powers respecting the creation, administration, and maintenance of the districts, including to purchase, receive, take, hold, lease, use, and enjoy property of every kind and description of property within the district. Existing law permits the Sonoma Valley Health Care District, upon the approval of its board of directors, to use a design-build procedure when assigning contracts for the construction of a building and improvements directly related to a hospital or health facility building at the Sonoma Valley Hospital. This bill would allow the Tahoe Forest Health Care District and a health care district authorized by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, upon approval of the district's board of directors, to use the design-build procedure to assign contracts for the construction of a hospital or health facility building. This bill would repeal the above-described health care district authorization on January 1, 2016.

Existing law provides that in the absence of a credentialed school nurse or other licensed nurse onsite at the school, a school district is authorized to provide school personnel with voluntary medical training to provide emergency medical assistance to pupils with diabetes suffering from severe hypoglycemia. This bill would authorize a school district to provide school employees with voluntary emergency medical training to provide, in the absence of a credentialed school nurse or other licensed nurse onsite at the school, emergency medical assistance to pupils with epilepsy suffering from seizures, in accordance with performance standards developed by specified entities. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to approve the performance standards for distribution and make the standards available upon request. The bill would allow a parent or guardian of a pupil with epilepsy who has been prescribed diastat by the pupil's health care provider to request the pupil's school to have one or more of its employees receive voluntary training, as specified, in order to administer diastat, as defined, in the event that the pupil suffers a seizure when a nurse is not available. The bill would require a school that decides to train school employees to distribute an electronic notice, as specified, to all staff regarding the request. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2016.

The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes a credit against the taxes imposed by that law in an amount equal to the lesser of 5% of the purchase price or $10,000 in the case of the purchase of a qualified principal residence on and after March 1, 2009, and before March 1, 2010, but not to exceed an aggregate limitation of $100,000,000 for all credits allowable. Existing law requires a certification that the residence has never been occupied be provided to the Franchise Tax Board within one week of the sale of the qualified principal residence. This bill would limit the credit to taxpayers who purchased a qualified principal residence on and after March 1, 2009, and before July 3, 2009, and on and after the effective date of this bill and before March 1, 2010. This bill would also require the aggregate limitation of credits to be reduced by a specified amount per certification received by the Franchise Tax Board. (2) The bill would appropriate the sum of $44,000 from the General Fund to the Franchise Tax Board, in augmentation of a specified appropriation made in the 2009-10 Budget Act. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.