(1) The Enterprise Zone Act provides for the designation of enterprise zones by the Department of Community Housing and Development based on the department's approval of applications from a city, county, or city and county with a geographic area meeting certain criteria. Certain entities within a designated enterprise zone may receive regulatory, tax, and other incentives for private investment and employment. Existing law provides that no more than 42 enterprise zones be designated at any one time pursuant to the act. Upon the expiration or termination of a designation, existing law authorizes the department to designate another enterprise zone to maintain a total of 42 enterprise zones. This bill would authorize the department to designate one special enterprise zone within the City of Fremont consisting of a geographical area encompassing a facility that manufactures automobiles and to designate, until 90 days after the act takes effect, an additional 10 special enterprise zones limited to one nonrenewable 15-year term. The bill would exclude these enterprise zones from the calculation of the overall number of enterprise zones authorized under the act. The bill would also make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute. (2) The California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act established the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. The authority is authorized to do all things necessary and convenient to carry out the purposes of the act. The authority is also required to establish a renewable energy program to provide financial assistance, as defined, to certain entities for projects to generate new and renewable energy sources, develop clean and efficient distributed generation, and demonstrate the economic feasibility of new technologies. Existing law provides that the transfer of title of tangible personal property constituting a project under the act to the authority by a participating party or the lease or transfer of tangible personal property constituting a project under the act by the authority to a participating party pursuant to the act is not a "sale" or "purchase" for the purposes of the Sales and Use Tax Law. This bill would include as a project, machinery, or equipment that is utilized for the design, technology transfer, manufacture, production, assembly, distribution, or service of an alternative source component. The bill would include as "financial assistance" for the purposes of the act purchases, sales, or lease arrangements that qualify for exclusion from the Sales and Use Tax Law. The bill would require the authority to consider specified criteria in approving a project for which the purchase, sale, or lease of tangible personal property qualifies for the sales and use tax exclusion. The bill would require, when the sales and use tax exclusion for projects approved by the authority exceed $100,000,000 annually, the authority to provide a 20-day notice to the Legislature for additional project approval.
Sponsored bills
Existing law does not provide a system of universal health care coverage for California residents. Existing law provides for the creation of various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi‑Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would establish the California Healthcare System to be administered by the newly created California Healthcare Agency under the control of a Healthcare Commissioner appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits under the California Healthcare System, which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services. The bill would provide that a resident of the state with a household income, as specified, at or below 200% of the federal poverty level would be eligible for the type of benefits provided under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, or legislation to allow various existing federal, state, and local health care payments to be paid to the California Healthcare System, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. The bill would create the Healthcare Policy Board to establish policy on medical issues and various other matters relating to the system. The bill would create the Office of Patient Advocacy within the agency to represent the interests of health care consumers relative to the system. The bill would create within the agency the Office of Health Planning to plan for the health care needs of the population, and the Office of Health Care Quality, headed by a chief medical officer, to support the delivery of high quality care and promote provider and patient satisfaction. The bill would create the Office of Inspector General for the California Healthcare System within the Attorney General's office, which would have various oversight powers. The bill would prohibit health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being issued for services covered by the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the Healthcare Fund and the Payments Board to administer the finances of the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the California Healthcare Premium Commission (Premium Commission) to determine the cost of the California Healthcare System and to develop a premium structure for the system that complies with specified standards. The bill would require the Premium Commission to recommend a premium structure to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2013, and to make a draft recommendation to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public 90 days before submitting its final premium structure recommendation. The bill would specify that only its provisions relating to the Premium Commission would become operative on January 1, 2011, with its remaining provisions becoming operative on the date the Secretary of California Health and Human Services notifies the Legislature, as specified, that sufficient funding exists to implement the California Healthcare System. The bill would require that system to be operative within 2 years of that date and would provide for various transition processes for that period. The bill would extend the application of certain insurance fraud laws to providers of services and products under the system, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by revising the definition of a crime. The bill would enact other related provisions relative to budgeting, regional entities, federal preemption, subrogation, collective bargaining agreements, compensation of health care providers, conflict of interest, patient grievances, independent medical review, and associated matters. 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 memorialize the Legislature's support of legislation currently pending in the United States Congress that would protect the Pacific Coast from new offshore oil drilling. This measure would also memorialize the Legislature's opposition to the proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that would weaken California's role in energy siting decisions due to those policies.
Existing law establishes the Department of Financial Institutions, the Department of Corporations, the Department of Real Estate, and the Office of Real Estate Appraisers in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of, among others, banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of, among others, residential mortgage lenders and finance lenders by the Commissioner of Corporations. Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of, among others, real estate brokers and salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of real estate appraisers by the Director of the Office of Real Estate Appraisers. Existing law provides for the Real Estate Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for purposes of providing funding for the regulation and enforcement of the Real Estate Law. This bill would do the following, effective July 1, 2012: (1) establish a new Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (BTHA) , (2) designate the chief officer of DFS as the Commissioner of Financial Services, (3) transfer the powers, duties, purposes, jurisdiction, responsibilities, and functions of the Department of Corporations (DOC) and Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) to 2 new divisions under the DFS, the Division of Corporations and the Division of Financial Institutions, (4) designate the Commissioner of Corporations and the Commissioner of Financial Institutions as the directors of the Division of Corporations and the Division of Financial Institutions, respectively, (5) establish a new Office of Financial and Real Estate Consumer Advocacy within the DFS, and (6) transfer authority over real estate appraisers to the Department of Real Estate (DRE) under the Real Estate Law. This bill would, effective July 1, 2012, transfer from the DRE to the Division of Corporations the authority to license, regulate, enforce, and discipline real estate licensees engaged in residential real estate financial services, as specified. The bill would, by July 1, 2012, require the Commissioner of Financial Services to, among other things, adopt or amend regulations and rules to implement this transfer. The bill would establish the Real Estate Financial Services Fund and the Real Estate Financial Services Recovery Account within the fund, both with continuously appropriated funds, and would direct that a specified percentage of licensure fees paid by those licensees engaging in residential real estate financial services be deposited in the recovery account. The bill would authorize an aggrieved person with a final judgment against a licensee to file an application, that includes a statement under penalty of perjury, with the Division of Corporations for payment from the recovery account. The bill would make these provisions relating to the fund and the account operative on July 1, 2012. By creating a continuously appropriated fund and account, the bill would make an appropriation. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. In order to implement the above provisions, this bill would require the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing, in consultation with DFI, DOC, DRE, and the Office of Real Estate Appraisers, to, on or before January 1, 2012, report to the Legislature and make specified recommendations regarding the consolidation of these entities and their respective operations. This bill would appropriate $150,000 from the General Fund portions of the Real Estate Fund to the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing to fund the reports, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would make findings and declarations in this regard, and would make technical and conforming changes to related provisions and definitions. 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, the Medical Practice Act, restricts the employment of licensed physicians and surgeons and podiatrists by a corporation or other artificial legal entity, subject to specified exemptions, and makes it a crime to practice medicine without a license. Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2011, a pilot project to allow qualified district hospitals that, among other things, provide more than 50% of patient days to the care of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and uninsured patients, to employ a physician and surgeon, if the hospital does not interfere with, control, or otherwise direct the professional judgment of the physician and surgeon. The pilot project authorizes the direct employment of a total of 20 physicians and surgeons by those hospitals to provide medically necessary services in rural and medically underserved communities, and specifies that each qualified district hospital may employ up to 2 physicians and surgeons, subject to specified requirements. This bill would delete that pilot project and would instead, until January 1, 2021, authorize a health care district, as defined, and a clinic owned or operated by a health care district, as specified, to employ physicians and surgeons if the health care district's service area includes a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or a Medically Underserved Population (MUP) , or has been federally designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) ; the district board conducts a public hearing and adopts a specified resolution declaring the need for the district to recruit and directly employ one or more physicians and surgeons; and the executive officer of the district provides specified documentation to the Medical Board of California. Upon receipt of that documentation, the bill would require the board to approve the employment of up to 5 primary or specialty care physicians and surgeons by the district, and, upon receipt of additional documentation after that employment, to approve an additional 5 primary or specialty care physicians and surgeons. The bill would provide that a district may, until December 31, 2020, enter into, renew, or extend any employment contract with a physician and surgeon for up to 10 years. The bill would require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health and the board, to report to the Legislature by June 1, 2018, with regard to the efficacy of the employment of physicians and surgeons by health care districts, as specified.
Existing law provides a shareholder dissenter's rights with respect to specified corporate transactions, including mergers and sales of assets, if a shareholder does not vote in favor of the transaction and notifies the corporation, as specified, that the shareholder dissents, and requires the corporation to pay the dissenting shareholder cash in the amount of the fair market value of the shareholder's dissenting shares, as specified, in lieu of the other consideration that a nondissenting shareholder is entitled to receive. The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the regulation of political campaign financing, including the reporting and disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures. Under the act, elected officers, candidates for elective office, and campaign committees are required to file periodic campaign statements that disclose specified information for specified reporting periods, including the amount of contributions received and the identities of donors. This bill would require a corporation, as defined, that makes a contribution or expenditure to, or in support of, or in opposition to, a candidate, ballot measure campaign, or a signature-gathering effort on behalf of a ballot measure, political party, or political action committee to report those contributions or expenditures to shareholders by specified means, including posting the report on the corporation's Internet Web site, if any, and to refund to an objecting shareholder, in the form of a dividend, a pro rata share of the dollar value of those contributions or expenditures, based on the shareholder's share ownership. The bill would define, among other terms, "objecting shareholder" and "political activity" for these purposes. This bill would provide for a civil cause of action, including recovery of reasonable attorney's fees, by a shareholder against a corporation for violations of the bill's provisions. The bill would require a corporation to maintain records that include copies of the reports on its political activities for 5 years, and to make copies of these reports available to the Secretary of State upon request. The bill would also state findings and declarations of the Legislature.
Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose a tax upon any producer for the privilege of severing oil from the earth or water in this state for sale, transport, consumption, storage, profit, or use, as provided, at the rate of 10% of the gross value of each barrel of oil severed. The tax would be administered by the State Board of Equalization and would be collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. This bill would require the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation to make specified certifications and determinations regarding certain oil wells, and to notify the board of the certification or determination. The bill would require the board to deposit all revenues collected pursuant to these provisions, less refunds and reimbursement to the board for expenses incurred in the administration and collection of the tax, into the General Fund. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it 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 bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.
Existing law divides the state into agricultural districts within the boundaries of which agricultural associations may be formed. Existing law creates District 32a from real property commonly known as the Orange County Fair and authorizes the Department of General Services to sell all or any portion of the real property that composes District 32a. This bill would repeal the provision creating District 32a out of the Orange County Fair property and would repeal the provision authorizing its sale by the department. This bill would also repeal the creation of the District 32a Disposition Fund in the State Treasury. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would recognize the Lunar New Year 4708 celebration.
This measure would declare February 23, 2010, to be Spay Day USA 2010 in California, and would request that Californians observe that day by having their dogs and cats spayed or neutered and by providing voluntary services or other support to organizations that provide spay and neuter services.