The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that the lead agency proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA. The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2024, to certify environmental leadership development projects that meet specified requirements for certain streamlining benefits related to CEQA. The act, among other things, requires a lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings for an environmental leadership development project, as provided, and to include a specified notice in the draft EIR and final EIR. The act is repealed by its own term on January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the application of the act to water storage projects, water conveyance projects, and groundwater recharge projects that provide public benefits and drought preparedness. The bill would authorize the Governor, until January 1, 2025, to certify water storage projects, water conveyance projects, and groundwater recharge projects as environmental leadership development projects. The bill would make other conforming changes. Because a lead agency would be required to prepare the record of proceedings for water storage projects, water conveyance projects, and groundwater recharge projects pursuant to the act, 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.
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Existing law sets forth the maximum ratios of administrative employees to each 100 teachers in the various types of school districts. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to determine, for each current fiscal year, for each school district in the state, the total number of administrative employees except as provided, the total number of teachers except those serving in positions that are supported by federal funds or by categorical grants from any source and are in programs that require specific teacher/administrator ratios, the total maximum number of administrative employees that should be employed by the school district based upon the application of the appropriate ratio prescribed by law, and the number of administrative employees in excess of the number allowable without penalty, as provided. Existing law exempts a school district that has one or fewer administrators from these provisions. This bill would delete that exemption and instead would exempt from those maximum ratios a certain number of administrative employees of a school district with an average daily attendance of 2,500 or fewer based on the average daily attendance of the school district, as provided.
The California Oil Refinery Cost Disclosure Act requires operators of refineries in the state that produce gasoline meeting California specifications, within 30 days of the end of each calendar month, to submit a report to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission containing certain information regarding its refining activities related to the production of gasoline that month. Existing law requires the commission to post the reported data, in aggregate, on its internet website within 45 calendar days of the end of each calendar month. This bill would require the commission to post and regularly update a dashboard on its internet website that includes the difference in average gasoline prices in California compared to national average gasoline prices, the identification of California-specific taxes, fees, regulations, and policies and their individual contribution to gasoline prices in the state, and any substantiated evidence of price gouging or other anticompetitive behavior within the petroleum industry and its contribution to the price differential.
Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, which has the power of general supervision over specified state entities. Existing law requires the agency to develop and report on legislative, budgetary, and administrative programs to accomplish comprehensive, long-range, coordinated planning and policy formation in the matters of public interest related to the agency. This bill would require the agency to create and maintain on its internet website a performance dashboard that, for every project overseen by the Department of Transportation, provides metrics, fiscal information, and operational information, as specified. The bill would require the agency to update the dashboard quarterly, using publicly available information. The bill would authorize the department to partner with other state or local agencies to collect the data required to be included in the performance dashboard.
The Personal Income Tax Law excludes from the gross income of an employee amounts paid or incurred by an employer for educational assistance to the employee, as specified, up to $5,250 during a calendar year. This bill would include in the definition of "educational assistance" a payment made by an employer on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2026, paid or incurred by the employer, whether paid to the employee or to a lender, of principal or interest on a qualified education loan, as defined, relating to interest on education loans, incurred by the employee for education of the employee. The bill would also make various technical changes to these provisions and delete obsolete language relating to graduate level educational assistance. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill would make specified findings detailing the goals, purposes, and objectives of the above-described exclusion, and the performance indicators for determining whether the exclusion meets those goals, purposes, and objectives. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to supply a form to designated agencies in order to enable persons to request and receive notification from the department of the release, escape, scheduled execution, or death of the violent offender. Existing law requires the agency to give the form to the victim, witness, or next of kin of the victim for completion, explain to that person or persons the right to be notified, and forward the completed form to the department. This bill would require the designated agencies to also give the form to the immediate family members of the victim, and to inform them of their right to request and receive a notification from the department. The bill would also require the department or the Board of Parole Hearings to notify the immediate family members of the victim of a violent offender's release or scheduled execution. By requiring a higher level of service from local agencies, 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law limits the civil liability of a space flight entity, as defined, if the entity had a participant in space flight activities sign a warning statement, as specified. Existing law does not limit a space flight entity's civil liability, even if a participant signed the warning statement, if the entity had actual knowledge or reasonably should have known of a dangerous condition on the land or in the facilities or equipment used in the space flight activities and the dangerous condition proximately causes injury, damage, or death to the participant. Existing law does not limit the liability of a manufacturer of a part or component used in space flight activities if a defective part or component proximately causes injury to a participant. This bill would define a "space flight entity" to mean a public or private entity that holds, either directly or through a corporate subsidiary or parent, a license, permit, or other authorization issued under federal law, as specified. The bill would limit civil liability of a space flight entity if the space flight entity had a participant or crewmember in space flight activities sign a warning statement, as specified. The bill would not limit a space flight entity's civil liability, even if a participant or crewmember signed the warning statement, if the space flight entity had actual knowledge or reasonably should have known of an extraordinarily dangerous condition that is not inherent to space flight activities and the extraordinarily dangerous condition proximately causes injury, damage, or death to the participant. The bill would provide that a space flight entity is not strictly liable for personal injury or wrongful death resulting from space flight activities.
Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to grant or deny a charter petition within 90 days of receipt of the petition unless the petitioner and school district agree to a 30-day extension. Existing law authorizes a petitioner to submit the petition to the county board of education on appeal within 30 days of a governing board's denial of a petition. Under existing law, if either the county board of education or the state board fails to act on the appeal of a charter petition within 180 days of receipt, the decision of the governing board of the school district to deny the charter is subject to judicial review. This bill would additionally authorize a petitioner to submit a charter petition to the county board of education on appeal within 30 days if the governing board of the school district fails to take action on the charter within the prescribed time period. To the extent these provisions would impose additional duties on county boards of education, the 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law, imposes a tax upon each gallon of motor vehicle fuel removed from a refinery or terminal rack in this state, entered into this state, or sold in this state, at a specified rate per gallon. Existing unfair competition laws establish a statutory cause of action for unfair competition, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising and acts prohibited by false advertisement laws. This bill would suspend the imposition of the tax on motor vehicle fuels for one year. The bill would require that all savings realized based on the suspension of the motor vehicle fuels tax by a person other than an end consumer, as defined, be passed on to the end consumer, and would make the violation of this requirement an unfair business practice, in violation of unfair competition laws, as provided. The bill would require a seller of motor vehicle fuels to provide a receipt to a purchaser that indicates the amount of tax that would have otherwise applied to the transaction. This bill would also direct the Controller to transfer a specified amount from the General Fund to the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund. By transferring General Fund moneys to a continuously appropriated account, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law imposes a reduced base fee for the issuance of original or replacement identification cards for persons who meet certain income requirements, as specified, and for eligible inmates upon release from a state correctional facility, as specified. Existing law imposes a reduced base fee for the issuance of a replacement identification card for eligible inmates upon release from a federal correctional facility or a county jail facility, and for eligible patients treated in a facility of the State Department of State Hospitals, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to adjust the base fee for the issuance or replacement of an identification card by increasing each fee in an amount equal to the increase in the California Consumer Price Index for the current year, as calculated by the Department of Finance. This bill would require, commencing on January 1, 2027, the fees for the above-mentioned provisions to be reduced by $2.