The Emergency Services Act establishes in state government, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services and makes the office responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, as specified. This bill would enact the Emergency Fairgrounds Communications Grant Act and would require, on or before January 1, 2025, the office to establish a grant program to provide fairgrounds with grant funding for the purpose of building and upgrading communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would require the office to establish standards to determine the awarding of grant funding that award funding based on a fairground's need for internet capabilities in order to service an emergency response operation. The bill would authorize the office to prioritize the order of grant disbursements based on prescribed criteria. The bill would also require the office to consult with the Department of Technology and the Department of Food and Agriculture to coordinate the statewide building and upgrading of communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would provide that the program is operative only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.
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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 vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill would prohibit an electrical corporation from proposing a rate increase above the rate of inflation, as specified, except with the approval of the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to approve a rate increase above the rate of inflation if the commission determines that those costs are directly related to safety enhancements and modernization, or higher commodity or fuel costs. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above-described requirements would be a part of the act, and because a violation of an action of the commission implementing the above-described prohibition would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish the California Legacy License Plate Program, and to create and issue a series of specialized license plates, consisting of one or more of 3 specified designs that replicate license plates from the state's past. Existing law requires the department to collect and hold paid applications for the plates, as specified, and prohibits the department from issuing a specialized license plate until it has received not less than 7,500 paid applications for any one of the particular plates on or before January 1, 2015. This bill would extend the deadline for receipt of the required number of paid applications to January 1, 2025, for plate designs that did not receive the required number of applications by January 1, 2015.
(1) The Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law, administered by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, 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 law requires the department to adjust the tax on July 1 each year by a percentage amount equal to the increase in the California Consumer Price Index, as calculated by the Department of Finance. Article XIX of the California Constitution restricts the expenditure of revenues from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax, Diesel Fuel Tax Law, and other 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. This bill would authorize the Governor to suspend an adjustment to the motor vehicle fuel tax, as described above, scheduled on or after July 1, 2025, upon making a determination that increasing the rate would impose an undue burden on low-income and middle-class families. The bill would require the Governor to notify the Legislature of an intent to suspend the rate adjustment on or before January 10 of that year, and would require the Department of Finance to submit to the Legislature a proposal by January 10 that would maintain the same level of funding for transportation purposes as would have been generated had the scheduled adjustment not been suspended. (2) The California Constitution provides for the establishment of the State Board of Equalization, which, before July 1, 2017, had primary responsibility for most of the state's duties, powers, and responsibilities regarding the administration of taxes and fees. Existing law, on July 1, 2017, transferred to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration various duties, powers, and responsibilities of the State Board of Equalization, including administration of the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law and the Diesel Fuel Tax Law, as specified. This bill would also change references in these provisions of law from the "State Board of Equalization" to the "California Department of Tax and Fee Administration" or "department", as applicable, to reflect the transfer of the board's duties, powers, and responsibilities to the department. (3) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing federal law establishes the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) , which provides specified services for older individuals at a PACE center so that they may continue living in the community. Federal law authorizes states to implement PACE as a Medicaid state option. Existing state law establishes the California Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE program) to provide community-based, risk-based, and capitated long-term care services as optional services under the state's Medi-Cal state plan. Existing law requires the department to develop and pay capitation rates to entities contracted through the PACE program using actuarial methods and that reflect the level of care associated with the specific populations served pursuant to the contract. Existing law authorizes a PACE organization approved by the department to use video telehealth to conduct initial assessments and annual reassessments for eligibility for enrollment in the PACE program. This bill, among other things relating to the PACE program, would require those capitation rates to also reflect the frailty level and risk associated with those populations. The bill would also expand an approved PACE organization's authority to use video telehealth to conduct all assessments, as specified.
Existing law creates the Agriculture Trust Fund, the activities of which are subject to audit at least once every 2 years. Existing law provides that the trust accounts in the fund are to be used for the purpose of implementing and continuing agricultural programs, as specified. This bill would instead provide that the Agriculture Trust Fund shall be audited at least once every year.
Existing law prohibits the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) from certifying a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except for specified powerplants, and provides that a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except those specified powerplants, is not a permitted land use in California, unless certain conditions are met regarding the existence of technology for the construction and operation of nuclear fuel rod processing plants and of demonstrated technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste, as specified. This bill would exempt small modular reactors, as defined, from those provisions. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over electrical corporations and gas corporations. Under existing law, it is the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of all retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. Existing law requires the PUC, the Energy Commission, and all other state agencies to incorporate that policy into all relevant planning. This bill would require the PUC, on or before January 1, 2026, to adopt a plan to increase the procurement of electricity generated from nuclear facilities and to phase out the procurement of electricity generated from natural gas facilities.
Existing law declares that the protection of the public interest in the development of the water resources of the state is of vital concern to the people of the state and that the state shall determine in what way the water of the state, both surface and underground, should be developed for the greatest public benefit. Existing law establishes within the Natural Resources Agency the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards. Existing law requires the work of the state board to be divided into at least 2 divisions, known as the Division of Water Rights and the Division of Water Quality. This bill would establish a statewide goal to increase above- and below-ground water storage capacity by a total of 3,700,000 acre-feet by the year 2030 and a total of 4,000,000 acre-feet by the year 2040. The bill would require the Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the state board, to take reasonable actions to promote or assist efforts to achieve the statewide goal, as provided. The bill would require the department, beginning July 1, 2027, and on or before July 1 every 2 years thereafter until January 1, 2043, in consultation with the state board, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the progress made to achieve the statewide goal.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and before January 1, 2028, allow a credit of $5,000 against the taxes imposed by those laws to a qualified taxpayer. The bill would define a qualified taxpayer for this purpose to mean a taxpayer that owns and leases qualified rental property, as defined, to a qualified nonprofit, as defined, pursuant to a qualified lease. The bill would require the qualified taxpayer to obtain certification, under penalty of perjury, from the qualified nonprofit that the qualified rental property will be used to provide housing to survivors of domestic violence, as provided. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would establish a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. 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 take effect immediately as a tax levy.