Existing sales and use tax laws impose taxes on retailers measured by gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, measured by sales price. Those laws partially exempt from those taxes, until July 1, 2018, the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of, specified tangible personal property purchased for use by a qualified person, as defined, to be used primarily in manufacturing or other processes, and in research and development. Consumables with a useful life of less than one year do not qualify for exemption, and useful life is defined by reference to state income or franchise taxes. This bill, on and after January 1, 2018, and before July 1, 2028, would additionally define useful life by reference to manufacturer or other warranties, maintenance contracts, and normal replacement as established by industry or business practices, would additionally exempt from those taxes special purpose buildings and foundations used for the generation, production, storage, or distribution, as defined, of electric power, and would expand the definition of qualified person to include, among others, a person primarily engaged in the business of electric power generation. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would improve the state's sales and use tax incentives to promote a stronger California economy by securing a greater share of the high-paying, high-skilled jobs in manufacturing and research and development. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires the distribution of state publications, as defined, to specific libraries and depositories, and establishes the policy of the state to make freely available all state publications. This bill would specifically authorize a member of the public, as defined, to copy, share, distribute, or republish a state publication authored by the state.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various deductions in computing income that is subject to tax under that law. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, would allow a deduction in computing adjusted gross income in connection with health savings accounts in conformity with federal law. In general, the deduction would be an amount equal to the aggregate amount paid in cash during the taxable year by, or on behalf of, an eligible individual, as defined, to a health savings account of that individual, as provided. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, would also provide related conformity to that federal law with respect to the allowance of rollovers from Archer Medical Savings Accounts, health flexible spending arrangements, or health reimbursement accounts to a health savings account, and penalties in connection therewith. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
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. The bill would establish the Fire Prevention Fee Amnesty Program. The bill would require the State Board of Equalization to develop and administer the amnesty program for a person subject to the fees described above. The bill would require the program to be conducted for a 6-month time period, as provided, and would apply to fire prevention fee liabilities due and payable for the fee reporting periods beginning before March 1, 2018. The bill would require the program to apply to a person who meets specified requirements, including the filing of a completed amnesty application under penalty of perjury. By requiring the application to be completed under penalty of perjury, the bill would create a crime, and thus impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the state board to waive all penalties and interest for the specified fee reporting period for which the fire prevention fee amnesty is allowed for the nonpayment or underpayment of fee liabilities for a person who meets the above requirements. The bill would require the state board to adequately publicize the program so as to maximize public awareness of and participation in the 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 authorizes, during the pendency of any juvenile proceeding, the minor's counsel or the court to express a doubt as to the minor's competency. Existing law requires proceedings to be suspended if the court finds substantial evidence raises a doubt as to the minor's competency. Existing law requires the court to appoint an expert, as specified, to evaluate whether the minor suffers from a mental disorder, developmental disability, developmental immaturity, or other condition and, if so, whether the condition or conditions impair the minor's competency. This bill would revise and recast these provisions to, among other things, expand upon the duties imposed upon an expert during his or her evaluation of a minor whose competency is in doubt, as specified. The bill would authorize the district attorney or minor's counsel to retain or seek the appointment of additional qualified experts with regard to determining competency, as specified. The bill would require the Judicial Council to adopt a rule of court relating to the qualifications of those experts, as specified. The bill would also add provisions that would require a minor's competency to instead be determined at an evidentiary hearing, and would establish a presumption of mental competency, unless it is proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the minor is mentally incompetent, except as specified. The bill would require the court, upon a finding of incompetency, to immediately refer the minor to services designed to help the minor attain competency, as specified. If the court finds that the minor will not achieve competency within a reasonable period of time, the bill would require the court to dismiss the petition. The bill would authorize the court to allow specified persons and agencies to discuss any services that may be available to the minor after the court's jurisdiction is terminated, and would require the court to make certain referrals for the minor. The bill would require, among others, the presiding judge of a juvenile court, the probation department, and the county mental health department to develop a written protocol describing the competency process and a program to ensure that minors who are found incompetent receive appropriate remediation services. By imposing additional duties on local officials, 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 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 prohibits committing a battery upon another person. Violation of this prohibition is punishable as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the extent of injury. Under existing law, there is a penalty enhancement for a battery committed against a peace officer who is engaged in the performance of his or her duties. Existing law defines "hate crime" as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of actual or perceived characteristics of the victim, including, among other things, race, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. Under existing law, that definition applies unless an explicit provision of law or the context clearly requires a different meaning. Existing law provides punishments for hate crimes that range from misdemeanors with specified penalties to felonies with additional terms of one to 3 years in state prison, depending on the underlying criminal act and other circumstances. Existing law requires, with conditions, the Attorney General to direct local law enforcement agencies to report specified information relative to hate crimes to the Department of Justice. Local law enforcement entities are required by existing law to provide a brochure on hate crimes to victims of these crimes and to the public, and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing is required by existing law to revise those brochures as needed and to provide those brochures to local law enforcement agencies upon request. This bill would make any criminal act, except the crime of resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer, committed in whole or in part because of the victim's status as a peace officer, as defined, a hate crime. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By expanding the information that law enforcement agencies report to the Department of Justice and disseminate to crime victims and the public, this bill imposes 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 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, subject to exceptions, provides that a person riding a bicycle or operating a pedicab upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the laws applicable to the driver of a vehicle. This bill would authorize a city, by resolution, to implement a 5-year pilot program, commencing January 1, 2020, to allow a person who is operating a bicycle and approaching a stop sign, after slowing to a reasonable speed and yielding the right-of-way, to cautiously make a turn or proceed through the intersection without stopping, unless safety considerations require otherwise. The bill would authorize implementation of the pilot program in at least 3 cities that elect to participate, as specified. The bill would require a participating city to annually submit specified data to the CHP relating to the implementation of the program, and would require the CHP to report that data to the Legislature. The bill would require each participating city to create education and outreach materials to appropriately inform the public about the pilot program. The bill also would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to existing law.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. Unemployment compensation is a joint federal and state program funded by federal and state unemployment taxes paid by employers with benefits paid by the state. Tax is imposed under both laws on the first $7,000 annually paid by an employer to an employee. Existing federal law, the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, provides a credit against this tax for contributions made to certified state unemployment compensation programs, but reduces this credit when a state has a debt to the Federal Unemployment Trust Account, thus requiring employers to pay more federal unemployment tax. California has a debt to the Federal Unemployment Trust Account. This bill, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, would allow a credit to employers in an amount equal to the reduction in credit under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act due to the state borrowing from the Federal Unemployment Trust Account. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law establishes the Public Utilities Commission and vests the commission with regulatory jurisdiction and authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law places various responsibilities upon the commission to ensure that public utility services are provided in a manner that protects the public safety and the safety of utility employees. This bill would appropriate moneys resulting from 2 specified citations, issued by the Public Utilities Commission to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for violations relating to the 2015 Butte Fire, to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to be expended for the department's program known as the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and Tree Mortality Grant Program. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes the Governor to make, amend, and rescind orders and regulations to implement the California Emergency Services Act. The act requires the Governor to coordinate the State Emergency Plan and those programs necessary for the mitigation of the effects of an emergency in this state. The act creates within the office of the Governor the Office of Emergency Services, which is responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services, as specified. By Executive order in 2015, the Governor directed the Office of Emergency Services to establish and lead the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (Cal-CSIC) , with its primary mission to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents that could damage California's economy, its critical infrastructure, or public and private sector computer networks in the state. The Executive order, among other things, required that the Cal-CSIC be comprised of representatives from various entities, and that it develop a statewide cybersecurity strategy informed by recommendations from the California Task Force on Cybersecurity and in accordance with state and federal requirements, standards, and best practices. This bill would establish in statute the Cal-CSIC within the Office of Emergency Services to develop a statewide cybersecurity strategy for California in coordination with the Cybersecurity Task Force. The bill would provide that Cal-CSIC would have the same primary mission as Cal-CSIC as created by Executive order. The bill would require Cal-CSIC to include, but not be limited to, representatives from the Office of Emergency Services, the Office of Information Security in the Department of Technology, the State Threat Assessment Center, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Military Department, the Office of the Attorney General, the California Health and Human Services Agency, and others. The bill would incorporate language of the Executive order to, among other things, require Cal-CSIC to coordinate with the California State Threat Assessment System and the United States Department of Homeland Security, establish a cyber incident response team, and safeguard the privacy of individuals' sensitive information. The bill would also direct all state departments and agencies to ensure compliance with existing information security and privacy policies, promote awareness of information security standards with their workforce, and assist the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services and the Cal-CSIC. The bill would authorize the Governor to suspend the operations of the Cal-CSIC if federal funding for its continued operation is unavailable. The bill would prohibit the Cal-CSIC from requiring private sector companies to share information but would permit voluntary sharing.