Asm. Eduardo Garcia

This measure would declare the importance of the arts to the state and the essential role of the Arts Council in promoting the arts throughout the state, and urge a unified effort between the Legislature and the Governor to provide a substantial increase in the General Fund appropriation to the California Arts Council in the 2015–16 Budget Act.

This measure would designate the bicycle-pedestrian path constructed as part of the project to widen State Highway Route 101 in the County of Ventura as the Ralph Fertig Memorial Bicycle-Pedestrian Path and the pedestrian undercrossing of State Highway Route 101 in the community of La Conchita in the County of Ventura as the Peter Douglas Coastal Access Way. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing each of these special designations and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost of the signs for which the donations were made, to erect those signs.

This measure would recognize that every child who needs comprehensive health and early intervention services and supports in order to achieve his or her developmental potential should have those services easily accessible, sufficient, responsive, timely, and of high quality. The measure would further urge the Legislature to leverage existing efforts and statutes to ensure an accountable, results-oriented, and coordinated network of resources in order to provide multidisciplinary early identification and intervention services and supports to California infants and toddlers.

This measure would designate the interchange at the junction of State Routes 99 and 166 in the County of Kern as the CHP Officer Gerald E. Dormaier Memorial Interchange. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

This measure would proclaim October 17, 2015, as Firefighters Memorial Day.

This measure would designate November 2015 as a month to raise awareness about the issue of medically fragile foster care children and adoptive placement children and the actions that every Californian can take to make a positive difference in these children's lives.

Existing law creates the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy in the Natural Resources Agency and, among other things, authorizes the conservancy to acquire and hold specified lands in the Coachella Valley and the Coachella Mountains for certain open-space, wildlife protection, and recreational uses. Existing law specifies that the governing board of the conservancy consists of 21 voting members, including, among other members, the mayor or a member of the city council of each of the Cities of Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and Rancho Mirage, appointed by a majority of the membership of the respective city council or each city. This bill would expand to 23 the membership of the governing board of the conservancy, and would include the mayor or a member of the city council of the Cities of Coachella and Indio, appointed by a majority of the membership of the respective city council of those cities. Existing law prescribes the territory of the conservancy, but expressly excludes the incorporated areas of the Cities of Coachella and Indio, as they exist on January 1, 1994. This bill would delete that provision excluding those lands in the incorporated Cities of Coachella and Indio from the territory of the conservancy.

Existing law requires a state agency, department, officer, or other state governmental entity, to meet an annual statewide participation goal of not less than 3% for disabled veteran business enterprises for specified contracts entered into by the awarding department during the year. The administering agency for the California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program is the Department of General Services. Existing law requires the Director of General Services to adopt written policies and guidelines establishing a uniform process for state contracting that provides a disabled veteran business enterprise participation incentive to bidders. This bill would require a greater participation incentive to be provided to a prime contractor who owns a disabled veteran business enterprise, as specified, and has not previously entered into any contracts with the state as a prime contractor, and to a disabled veteran business enterprise that employs a workforce that is more than 50% veterans or that has not previously entered into any contracts with the state. The bill would require an awarding department to consider whether greater disabled veteran business enterprise participation in excess of 3% should be required on its contracts. Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to maintain complete records of its promotional efforts to promote the program and to establish a system to track the effectiveness of its promotional efforts. This bill would require the department to maintain additional information relating to its promotional efforts, as specified. Existing law requires a prime contractor who entered into a subcontract with a disabled veteran business enterprise to make certain disclosures to the awarding department after completion of the contract. This bill would require the awarding department that receives this information to maintain those records for a minimum of 5 years, as specified. The bill would require every awarding department to establish a procedure to ensure the accuracy and completeness of those records. The bill would further require a contractor who subcontracts with disabled veteran business enterprises to comply with additional requirements when providing its certification of expenditures to an awarding department, as specified. Existing law requires each awarding department to appoint an agency Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program Advocate. Existing law requires the agency Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program Advocate to, among other things, assist certified disabled veteran business enterprises in participating in that agency's contracting process. This bill would additionally require the advocate to maintain records of the promotional efforts hosted or attended by the advocate, as specified. Existing law requires a department, as defined under the State Contract Act, to report on contracting activity containing specified information. This bill would require a department, as defined, to establish guidelines for reporting multiyear contracts. The bill would make other minor, technical changes to the reporting requirements under the program.