Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the role of the University of California with respect to access to health care in the San Joaquin Valley. The bill would appropriate $1,225,000 from the General Fund to the regents each fiscal year, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, for allocation to the University of California to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education, as specified.
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Existing law exempts from property taxation the first $50,000 worth of hand tools that are owned and supplied by an employee as a condition of employment. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this provision.
Existing law excludes certain peace officers from voir dire in civil and criminal matters, and other specified peace officers from voir dire in criminal matters. This bill would exclude additional peace officers, including certain parole officers, probation officers, deputy probation officers, board coordinating parole agents, correctional officers, transportation officers of a probation department, and other employees of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the State Department of State Hospitals, and the Board of Parole Hearings, from voir dire in criminal matters.
Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife, when income is derived directly from real property acquired and operated by the state as a wildlife management area, as defined, to pay annually to the county in which the property is located an amount equal to the county taxes levied upon the property at the time title to the property was transferred to the state, and any assessments levied upon the property by any irrigation, drainage, or reclamation district. This bill would appropriate $19,000,000 from the General Fund to the department to make payments to counties for unpaid amounts under these provisions. The bill would also appropriate $2,000,000 annually, beginning with the 2014–15 fiscal year, from the General Fund to the department to make payments to counties under these provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. The board's duties include, but are not limited to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and adopting and enforcing regulations. Existing law, the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997, establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the board for grants and revolving fund loans for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water standards. Existing law sets the maximum grant to each participating public water system for its share of the costs of the construction at $3,000,000, except as provided. This bill would increase the maximum amount of a construction grant award to $5,000,000 for a water system serving severely disadvantaged communities, except as provided. By authorizing the increased expenditure of moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law prohibits a state, county, or city officer or employee, among others, from being a purchaser at any sale or a vendor at any purchase made by him or her in his or her official capacity. Existing law provides that willful violation of these provisions is a crime punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in the state prison. This bill would also prohibit a state, county, or city law enforcement officer from purchasing or otherwise obtaining a motor vehicle, or accepting a gift or donation of a motor vehicle, from a vehicle towing, transportation, or impound company that does business with the state, county, or city agency that employs the officer. Because a violation of these provisions would be a 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.
(1) Existing law establishes the Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Program, which requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award a grant, for the purpose of purchasing or leasing agricultural career technical education equipment, to an applicant school district that operates an agricultural career technical education program and that meets specified requirements. Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to annually adopt or update a local control and accountability plan that contains specified information. This bill would continuously appropriate the sum of $4,134,000 in each fiscal year beginning with the 2015–16 fiscal year from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of funding the Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Program. The bill would require the Superintendent to award a grant to a school district that, in addition to meeting the existing requirements, demonstrates how the expenditure of the grant funds will be consistent with its adopted local control and accountability plan. The bill would also express various findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to agricultural career technical education. (2) Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the California Homes and Jobs Act of 2013. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that revenues from this fee be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and Community Development for deposit in the California Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund may be expended for supporting affordable housing, administering housing programs, and the cost of periodic audits, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce compliance with applicable prevailing wage requirements for specified public works projects that are funded by state bond proceeds. Moneys collected for this purpose are continuously appropriated to the department from the State Public Works Enforcement Fund to cover the costs of these monitoring and enforcement duties. This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce prevailing wage requirements for construction contracts for certain public works projects over $1,000,000, that are funded, in whole or in part, by the bill. The bill would authorize the department to charge each person or entity awarding a construction contract for the reasonable and directly related costs of the monitoring and enforcement activities, and would require the department to deposit the moneys collected into the State Public Works Enforcement Fund. The bill would exempt projects with a collective bargaining agreement with a mechanism for resolution of wage disputes from this requirement. By establishing a new source of revenue for a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. 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 bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) The Nonprofit Corporation Law authorizes a presiding officer of a religious denomination, society, or church to form a corporation sole for the purpose of administering and managing its affairs. The law requires the Secretary of State to file articles of incorporation of a corporation sole, if the articles of incorporation conform to law. This bill would require the Secretary of State, if he or she determines the articles of incorporation to form a corporation sole did not conform to law, to nonetheless file it if the articles of incorporation are resubmitted with an accompanying written opinion of a member of the State Bar of California that the specific provision of the articles of incorporation objected to by the Secretary of State conform to law and the supporting points and authorities upon which the written opinion is based. (2) The Nonprofit Corporation Law authorizes a chief officer of a corporation sole to amend the articles of incorporation if the amendment is filed with the Secretary of State and includes a signed and verified statement setting forth the provisions of the amendment and stating that the amendment has been duly authorized by the religious organization governed by the corporation sole. This bill would expand this provision to also allow an amendment filed with the Secretary of State to state it has been duly approved by the hierarchical religious organization or entity responsible for forming the corporation sole, or by the hierarchical religious organization or entity responsible for overseeing the corporation sole according to the rules, canons, regulations, or discipline of the religious denomination, society, or church as to which the corporation sole is affiliated. (3) The Nonprofit Corporation Law requires a declaration of dissolution of a corporation sole to include, among other things, a statement that the dissolution of the corporation sole has been duly authorized by the religious organization governed by the corporation sole. This bill would expand that provision to also allow the statement that the dissolution of the corporation sole has been duly authorized by the hierarchical religious organization or entity responsible for forming the corporation sole, or by the hierarchical religious organization or entity responsible for overseeing the corporation sole according to the rules, canons, regulations, or discipline of the religious denomination, society, or church as to which the corporation sole is affiliated. (4) The Nonprofit Corporation Law requires any assets of a dissolved corporation sole remaining after satisfying its debts and obligations to be transferred to the religious organization governed by the corporation sole, or to trustees in its behalf, or disposed of as may be decreed by the superior court of the county in which the dissolved corporation sole had its principal office. This bill would expand this provision to authorize the assets to also be transferred to the hierarchical religious organization or entity responsible for forming the corporation sole, or the hierarchical religious organization or entity responsible for overseeing the corporation sole according to the rules, canons, regulations, or discipline of the religious denomination, society, or church to which the corporation sole is affiliated. (5) This bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, referred to as the state act. The state act imposes various penalties for a violation of its requirements. The state act requires specified penalties be deposited into the Waste Discharge Permit Fund and separately accounted. The state act requires penalty moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the state board to assist regional boards and prescribed other public agencies in cleaning up or abating the effects of waste on waters of the state or to assist a regional board attempting to remedy a significant unforeseen water pollution problem. This bill would appropriate $500,000 from the fund, as specified, to the state board for use by the Greater Monterey County Regional Water Management Group to develop an integrated plan to address the drinking water and wastewater needs of disadvantaged communities in the Salinas Valley whose waters have been affected by waste discharges, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for Monterey County.