Asm. James Gallagher

The California Constitution grants workers the right to a mechanic's lien for the value of labor and materials provided for the improvement of real property and authorizes the Legislature to provide for the speedy and efficient enforcement of these liens. Existing law authorizes a court to dismiss an action to enforce a mechanic's lien for want of prosecution if it is not brought to trial within 2 years after commencement of the action. This bill would authorize a court to dismiss an action to enforce a mechanic's lien for want of prosecution if a plaintiff does not make a good faith effort to effect service within 6 months after commencement of the action.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 authorizes the State Air Resources Board to adopt greenhouse gas emissions limits and emission reduction measures by regulation to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit. The act authorizes the board, in the regulations adopted, to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. This bill would prohibit the board, on and after January 1, 2016, from adopting or amending regulations pursuant to the act. The bill would authorize the board to submit to the Legislature recommendations on how to achieve the goals of the act.

Existing law allows a credit against the taxes imposed under the Corporation Tax Law and the Personal Income Tax Law for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2014, and before January 1, 2025, in an amount as provided in a written agreement between the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and the taxpayer, agreed upon by the California Competes Tax Credit Committee, and based on specified factors, including the number of jobs the taxpayer will create or retain in the state and the amount of investment in the state by the taxpayer. Existing law limits the aggregate amount of credits allocated to taxpayers to a specified sum per fiscal year. Existing law authorizes the Director of Finance to increase the aggregate amount of the economic development credits that may be allocated to taxpayers each fiscal year by $25 million per fiscal year through the 2017–18 fiscal year. This bill would provide for an additional aggregate amount of credit that may be allocated in any fiscal year pursuant to these provisions of $50,000,000 per fiscal year commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year through the 2017–18 fiscal year, to be allocated to taxpayers that are otherwise eligible for this credit that are located in a county, city and county, or metropolitan statistical area that has a 10%, or higher, unemployment rate. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

(1) Article XIX of the California Constitution restricts the expenditure of revenues from taxes imposed by the state on fuels used in motor vehicles upon public streets and highways to street and highway and certain mass transit purposes, and restricts the expenditure of revenues from fees and taxes imposed by the state upon vehicles or their use or operation to state administration and enforcement of laws regulating the use, operation, or registration of vehicles used upon the public streets and highways, as well as to street and highway and certain mass transit purposes. These restrictions do not apply to revenues from taxes or fees imposed under the Sales and Use Tax Law or the Vehicle License Fee Law. Article XIX prohibits the Legislature from borrowing revenues from taxes imposed by the state on fuels used in motor vehicles, and from using those revenues other than as specifically permitted by Article XIX. Article XIX provides that up to 25% of fuel tax revenues allocated to the state may be pledged or used for the payment of principal and interest on voter-approved transportation bonds issued for street and highway purposes on and after November 2, 2010, upon voter approval and appropriation by the Legislature. Article XIX provides that up to 25% of fuel tax revenues allocated to cities and counties may be pledged or used for the payment of principal and interest on voter-approved transportation bonds issued for street and highway purposes. However, in counties where voters have approved the use of fuel tax revenues for certain mass transit purposes, Article XIX provides that the Legislature may authorize any fuel tax revenues allocated to mass transit purposes to be pledged or used for payment of principal and interest on voter-approved bonds issued for those mass transit purposes. This measure would prohibit the Legislature from borrowing revenues from fees and taxes imposed by the state on vehicles or their use or operation, and from using those revenues other than as specifically permitted by Article XIX. The measure would also provide that none of those revenues may be pledged or used for the payment of principal and interest on bonds or other indebtedness. The measure would delete the provision that provides for use of any fuel tax revenues allocated to mass transit purposes to be pledged or used for payment of principal and interest on voter-approved bonds issued for those mass transit purposes, and would instead subject those expenditures to the existing 25% limitation applicable to the use of fuel tax revenues for street and highway bond purposes. This measure would also restrict the expenditure of revenues from taxes imposed by the state on motor vehicle fuels used in propelling water-borne vessels solely to purposes relating to boating facilities, safety, and boating-related activities, as specified, and would prohibit the Legislature from borrowing those revenues. (2) Article XI of the California Constitution requires the revenues derived under the Vehicle License Fee Law from a rate that does not exceed 0.65% of the market value of a vehicle to be allocated to cities and counties, and does not restrict expenditure of those revenues for a particular purpose. This measure would require revenues derived from that portion of the vehicle license fee rate that exceeds 0.65% of the market value of a vehicle to be used solely for street and highway purposes and would prohibit the Legislature from borrowing those revenues. The measure would also prohibit those revenues from being pledged or used for the payment of principal and interest on bonds or other indebtedness. (3) This measure would make other conforming changes.

(1) Existing law, the Collateral Recovery Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of repossession agencies by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services under the supervision and control of the Director of Consumer Affairs. The chief of the bureau serves under the direction and supervision of the director. Existing law makes a violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the denial of a license for specified acts, and authorizes the director to assess administrative fines. This bill would establish, beginning July 1, 2017, a Collateral Recovery Disciplinary Review Committee, to consist of 5 members to be appointed by, and to serve at the pleasure of, the Governor, for purposes of reviewing the request of a licensee, certificate holder, or registrant to contest the assessment of an administrative fine or to appeal a denial, revocation, or suspension, except as specified. The bill would set forth the duties of the Collateral Recovery Disciplinary Review Committee in that regard, and would authorize the members of the committee to be paid per diem and reimbursed for actual travel expenses. (2) Existing law prohibits a person from performing the duties of a registrant for a licensed repossession agency unless the person has in his or her possession a valid repossessor registration card or evidence of a valid temporary registration or registration renewal. Existing law authorizes a person to perform the duties of a registrant for a licensee pending receipt of a registration card if the person has been approved by the bureau and carries on his or her person a hardcopy printout of the bureau's approval from the bureau's Internet Web site. This bill would exempt from that prohibition a person who has in his or her possession a hardcopy printout or electronic copy of the bureau's approval from the bureau's Internet Web site. The bill would also specify for the above-described purposes that an electronic copy of the bureau's approval may include an easily legible electronic screenshot display of that information. (3) The Collateral Recovery Act authorizes licensed repossessors to perform repair work upon vehicles and charge owners if expressly authorized to do so. This bill would prohibit licensed repossessors from performing, or charging for, repair work, cleaning, or detailing. (4) The Collateral Recovery Act requires licensees to remove personal effects from collateral, make a complete and accurate inventory of the personal effects, and provide the inventory to a debtor not later than 48 hours after the recovery of the collateral, with certain exceptions, as specified. The act requires licensees to label and store the personal effects, except for the personal effects removed by or in the presence of the debtor or the party in possession at the time of the repossession, in a secure manner for a minimum of 60 days, and authorizes licensees to dispose of the personal effects after the expiration of that period, as specified. The act authorizes a licensee, if personal effects or other personal property not covered by a security agreement are to be released to someone other than the debtor, to request written authorization to do so from the debtor. This bill would instead require a licensee to request that authorization. The bill would require the inventory to be provided to a debtor no later than 96 hours after the recovery of the collateral if a licensee is unable to open a locked compartment that is part of the collateral, with specified exceptions. The bill would prohibit a licensee from selling personal effects and remitting money from the sale to a third party. (5) The Collateral Recovery Act prohibits a repossession agency, except as otherwise provided by law, from disclosing the personal information of persons employed by the agency. This bill would exclude disclosure to an individual to whom the information pertains from these prohibitions, and would allow a repossession agency to disclose the name, driver's license number, and date of birth of a person employed by the agency to an insurance company for the purpose of verifying information for the issuance or renewal of a policy of insurance. (6) The Collateral Recovery Act, among other things, prohibits a licensed repossession agency or its registrants from making demand for payment in lieu of repossession, selling recovered collateral, or appraising or determining the value of any collateral, and provides that licensed repossession agencies are not liable for the acts or omissions of legal owners and that legal owners are not liable for acts or omissions of licensed repossession agencies, as specified. This bill would require a licensed repossession agency, at least annually, to provide a legal owner with a copy of those prohibitions and provisions. This bill would define the terms "registered owner" and "repossession" for the purposes of the act. The bill would also make technical and conforming changes. (7) Existing law requires a person who takes possession of a vehicle by or on behalf of the vehicle's legal owner to notify the law enforcement department with applicable jurisdiction of the repossession within one hour of the repossession, as specified, and to forward a written notice to the city police or sheriff's department within one business day. Under existing law, a person who fails to provide this notification is guilty of an infraction and subject to a $300 to $500 fine. This bill would delete the requirement to forward that written notice within one business day. Under existing law, whenever a peace officer determines, among other things, that a person was driving without a license or while his or her driving privilege was suspended or revoked, the peace officer is authorized to remove and seize that vehicle. Existing law requires the law enforcement agency and the impounding agency, including any storage facility acting on behalf of the law enforcement agency or impounding agency, to comply with specified provisions and precludes liability to the registered owner for the improper release of the vehicle to the legal owner or the legal owner's agent if the release complies with certain requirements. Existing law requires the legal owner to indemnify and hold harmless a storage facility from any claims arising out of the release of the vehicle to the legal owner or the legal owner's agent and from any damage to the vehicle after its release, including the reasonable costs associated with defending any such claims. This bill would instead require the legal owner of collateral, by operation of law and without requiring further action, to indemnify and hold harmless the state, a law enforcement agency, city, county, city and county, a tow yard, storage facility, or an impounding yard from a claim arising out of the release of the collateral to a licensed repossessor or licensed repossession agency, and from any damage to the collateral after its release, including reasonable attorney's fees and costs associated with defending a claim, if the collateral was released in compliance, as specified. Existing law requires any person, defined as a natural person or specified business entity, that charges for towing or storage, or both, except for storage unrelated to a tow, to, among other things, provide, upon request, a copy of the Towing Fees and Access Notice to any owner or operator of a towed or stored vehicle. This bill would define a person to include the state, a city, county, city and county, law enforcement agency, a tow yard, storage facility, or an impounding yard that imposes such charges. By expanding this requirement to local agencies, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (8) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 14602.9 of the Vehicle Code proposed by SB 541 that would become operative only if SB 541 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last. (9) 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 provides for state cooperation with the federal government in the construction of specified flood control projects. Existing law adopts and authorizes federally adopted and approved projects, including a 200-year level of flood protection in the Natomas Basin, in areas within the City of Sacramento and the Counties of Sacramento and Sutter. The projects are authorized at an estimated cost to the state of the sum that may be appropriated by the Legislature for state participation upon the recommendation and advice of the Department of Water Resources or the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, formerly known as the Reclamation Board. This bill would describe the Natomas Basin flood protection project as further modified by a specified report adopted by Congress. The bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act contains various provisions regulating the application for, the issuance of, the suspension of, and the conditions imposed upon, alcoholic beverage licenses by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Existing law provides for various annual fees for the issuance of alcoholic beverage licenses, depending upon the type of license issued. This bill, the Craft Distillers Act of 2015, would authorize the department to issue a craft distiller's license to manufacture distilled spirits, subject to specified conditions, including that the licensee manufacture no more than 100,000 gallons of distilled spirits per fiscal year, excluding brandy the craft distiller manufactures or has manufactured for them. The bill would allow the craft distiller's licensee to sell distilled spirits to specified consumers, to own interests in on-sale retail licenses, and to sell beer, wines, brandies, and distilled spirits to consumers for consumption on the premises of a bona fide eating place, as provided. The bill would impose an original fee and an annual renewal fee for the license, which would be deposited in the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act authorizes a licensed distilled spirits manufacturer to conduct tastings of distilled spirits produced or bottled by, or produced or bottled for, the licensee, on the licensed premises, under specified conditions, including that tasting not be given in the form of a cocktail or mixed drink. This bill would extend that authorization to a licensed craft distiller and would revise the tasting conditions by allowing a tasting to be given in the form of a cocktail or mixed drink. Existing law prohibits a distilled spirits manufacturer's or distilled spirits manufacturer's agent's license from being held by a person that holds any ownership or interest in any distilled spirits wholesaler's, rectifier's, or retailer's license, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit a distilled spirits manufacturer's or distilled spirits manufacturer's agent's license from being held by a person that holds any ownership or interest in a craft distiller's license.

Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, prohibits the manufacture, packing, or holding of processed food unless in a food processing facility duly registered with the State Department of Public Health, upon payment of an annual registration fee. The law requires, until January 1, 2016, and in addition to the annual registration fee, every person engaged in the manufacture, packing, or holding of processed food, with specified exceptions, to pay a $100 food safety fee to be used by the department, upon appropriation, to assist in developing and implementing education and training programs related to food safety. The violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would delete the January 1, 2016, repeal date for the food safety fee, thus extending its duration indefinitely. By changing the definition of an existing crime, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This measure would proclaim April 12 through April 19, 2015, as California Holocaust Memorial Week and would urge Californians to observe these days of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust in an appropriate manner.