Existing law requires the state to have the primary financial responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state responsibility areas, as defined. Existing law requires that a fire prevention fee be charged on each habitable structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, collected annually by the State Board of Equalization, in accordance with specified procedures, and specifies that the annual fee shall be due and payable 30 days from the date of assessment by the state board. Existing law authorizes a petition for redetermination of the fee to be filed within 30 days after service of a notice of determination, as specified. This bill would extend the time when the fire prevention fee is due and payable from 30 to 60 days from the date of assessment by the State Board of Equalization and would authorize the petition for redetermination to be filed within 60 days after service of the notice of determination, as specified.
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Existing law authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist a veteran and his or her dependents or survivors to make a claim against the United States arising out of military service and establishing a right to a privilege, preference, care, or compensation. Existing law authorizes the department to cooperate and, with approval of the Department of Finance, contract with any veterans service organization for the purpose of assisting veterans in their claims. Existing law defines veterans service organization for these purposes. This bill would appropriate $3,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of grants to veterans service organizations. The bill would require the department to establish criteria, regulations, and reporting requirements for any organization it contracts with pursuant to these provisions. The bill would additionally require a veterans service organization that contracts with the department to have a presence in this state and be registered with both the Secretary of State and Attorney General.
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various exclusions from gross income, and allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law, including miscellaneous itemized deductions that are allowed only to the extent that the aggregate amount of those deductions exceeds 2% of adjusted gross income. This bill, upon appropriation of specified funds by the Legislature, on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2019, would allow a deduction, not to exceed specified amounts, of the amount a qualified taxpayer, as defined, contributed in any taxable year to a homeownership savings account and would exclude from gross income any income earned on the moneys contributed to a homeownership savings account. The bill would provide that a qualified taxpayer may withdraw amounts from a homeownership savings account to pay for qualified homeownership savings expenses defined as expenses paid or incurred in connection with the purchase of a principal residence, which is defined by reference to a federal law and includes a mobilehome. The bill would provide that any amount withdrawn from that account that is not used for these expenses would be included as income for that taxpayer. The bill would define various terms for its purposes. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Under existing law, a state agency is authorized to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the DMV is required to issue those license plates if the agency meets certain requirements. Existing law also requires the DMV to charge specified fees for certain services related to the issuance of those plates. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to apply to the DMV to sponsor a mental health awareness license plate program, and would require the DMV to issue the license plates if the department meets certain requirements. The bill would also establish the Mental Health Awareness Fund in the State Treasury and would require the revenue generated from the license plates, as specified, to be deposited in the fund for use, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the department, for mental health awareness and education.
(1) Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of the segments of postsecondary education in this state. The California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, constitute the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by appropriate resolution, to make those provisions applicable. An existing chapter of the Donahoe Higher Education Act relates to the use of academic materials, and provides that a court of competent jurisdiction is authorized to grant relief that is necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter, including through the issuance of an injunction. This chapter also includes the College Textbook Transparency Act which, among other things, provides that certain faculty members, defined as adopters, are authorized to receive royalties or other compensation from sales of course materials that include the instructor's writing or other work, subject to the employer's standing policies or collective bargaining agreements relating to employee conflicts of interest. This bill would add to this chapter a provision that requires the trustees and the governing board of each community college district, and requests the regents, to require their faculty members to annually disclose, on or before April 15, 2017, and on or before April 15 of each year thereafter, on a form and in a manner to be determined by the trustees, the governing board, or the regents, as appropriate, all of the income he or she received in the immediately preceding calendar year from a publisher, periodical, or provider of online content for royalties, advances, consulting services, or for any other purpose. The bill would require faculty members to whom the bill is applicable to file a form even if they have no disclosable income in the calendar year. The bill would require that these forms be filed under penalty of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by expanding the scope of the crime of perjury. The bill would require that the information provided by the faculty members under this bill be available to the public on the Internet Web site of the institution at which the faculty members teach, as specified. The bill would authorize the trustees, community college governing boards, or regents to require a faculty member who does not file the information required under this bill in a timely manner to pay an administrative fine of up to $50, as specified. The bill would authorize the trustees and the community college district governing boards to expend the proceeds of these fines for general educational purposes at the campuses at which the faculty members who were assessed the fines were employed. With respect to the California State University, the bill would establish the California State University Faculty Royalty Disclosure Fund as a continuously appropriated fund for the deposit of fine proceeds and their allocation to the appropriate campuses. The bill would request the regents to allocate the proceeds of any administrative fines they collect pursuant to the bill in a manner similar to that described for the California State University. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on community college districts, this bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law generally sets out the requirements for the submission of written reports by public agencies to the Legislature, the Governor, the Controller, and state legislative and other executive entities. This bill would require a written report, as defined, submitted by any state agency or department to the Legislature, a Member of the Legislature, or any state legislative or executive body to include a signed statement by the head of the agency or department declaring that the factual contents of the written report are true, accurate, and complete to the best of his or her knowledge. This bill would also make any person who declares as true any material matter pursuant to these provisions that he or she knows to be false liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $20,000.
This measure would declare the month of April 2016 as Financial Aid and Literacy Month, with the theme of "Prosperity Through Education," to raise public awareness about the continuing need for increased financial literacy.
This measure would recognize May 2016 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in California to enhance public awareness of mental illness.