Asm. Das Williams

This measure would proclaim February 29, 2012, as Rare Disease Day in California.

This measure would designate the month of February 2012 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, and would encourage all Californians to observe Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with appropriate programs and activities that raise awareness about teen dating violence and promote healthy teen relationships in their communities.

This measure would declare the week of June 4, 2012, to June 10, 2012, inclusive, as Fire Safety and Disaster Preparedness Week.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates mass mailings, known as slate mailers, that support or oppose multiple candidates or ballot measures for an election. The act requires that each slate mailer identify the slate mailer organization or committee primarily formed to support or oppose one or more ballot measures that is sending the slate mailer, and to contain other specified information in specified formatting. The act requires that each candidate and each ballot measure that has paid to appear in the slate mailer be designated by an asterisk. This bill would instead require that a candidate or ballot measure appearing in the slate mailer be designated by an asterisk if the slate mailer organization or committee primarily formed to support or oppose one or more ballot measures that is sending the slate mailer has received payment to include the candidate or ballot measure in the slate mailer. The bill would also recast the language of the prescribed notice to voters that must be included on a slate mailer. The act also regulates advertisements, which are defined as any general or public advertisement that is authorized and paid for by a person or committee for the purpose supporting or opposing a candidate for elective office or a ballot measure or ballot measures. The act places certain disclosure requirements on advertisements for or against any ballot measure, including that the advertisement disclose any person who has made cumulative contributions of $50,000 or more, as prescribed. The act places more specific disclosure requirements on broadcast or mass mailing advertisements that are paid for by independent expenditures that support or oppose a candidate or ballot measure. This bill would repeal provisions relating to disclosures for advertisements paid for by an independent expenditure and required disclosures of persons who have made cumulative contributions of $50,000 or more. This bill would, instead, impose specified disclosure requirements on radio, television, and video advertisements, and certain mass mailing and print advertisements that support or oppose a candidate or ballot measure or solicit contributions in support of those purposes. The bill would require radio, television, and video advertisements that are authorized by a candidate or agent of the candidate to include a statement in which the candidate identifies himself or herself and states that he or she approves the message, as specified. The bill would require radio, television, video, and certain mass mailings and print advertisements that are not authorized by a candidate or an agent of the candidate to disclose, in a prescribed format, the 3 largest identifiable contributors, as defined, of the committee that paid for the advertisement. The bill would require mass mailings or print advertisements that are paid for by certain persons who are not committees to disclose the name of that person as the funder of the mass mailing or print advertisement. The bill would also require that certain committees establish and maintain a committee disclosure Internet Web site, as defined, which discloses the top 10 identifiable contributors and provides a link to either the Internet Web site maintained by the Secretary of State for campaign finance disclosures of the committee, or a page on the committee disclosure Internet Web site that discloses all identifiable contributors to that committee, as specified. The bill would require these advertisements to identify the address for the committee disclosure Internet Web site. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the act may be amended by a statute that becomes effective upon approval of the voters. This measure would call a special statewide election to be consolidated with the statewide general election scheduled for November 4, 2014. It would provide for the submission to the voters of the provisions of this bill amending the Political Reform Act of 1974, as summarized above, at that election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an act calling an election.

(1) Existing law generally requires secondhand dealers and coin dealers, as defined, to report specified transactions involving tangible personal property, on forms provided or approved by the Department of Justice, to the local law enforcement agency where their businesses are located. Existing law defines "tangible personal property" for these purposes, and excludes from that definition, among other items, commercial grade ingots defined to include, among other items, 0.99 fine ingots of gold, silver, or platinum. This bill would revise the definition of commercial grade ingots to include 0.99 fine or finer ingots of gold, silver, palladium, or platinum. Under existing law, secondhand dealers and coin dealers are required to report the information described above using an electronic reporting system 12 months after the Department of Justice develops that system. This bill would eliminate the electronic filing requirements for coin dealers, and would instead require that secondhand dealers report this information using the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system on and after the date that the system is implemented, as specified. (2) Existing law requires a local law enforcement agency to issue a license to engage in the business of a secondhand dealer or pawnbroker to an applicant who meets designated criteria. Existing law authorizes the local licensing authority and the Department of Justice to charge an initial licensure fee and a renewal fee, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Justice to charge a licensure fee and a renewal fee of no more than $300, as specified. The bill would also require licensees issued a license before the effective date of this bill to pay an additional fee of no more than $288 for the purpose of funding the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system, with payment due within 120 days of the enactment of this bill. The bill would require that the fees assessed by the department be deposited in the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury. The bill would require that the money in the fund be used by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of paying for specified regulatory costs, including the cost of implementing, operating, and maintaining the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system. The bill would also require applicants for a license to submit fingerprint images relative to a required criminal background check, with associated fee revenue to be deposited in the Fingerprint Fee Account, and would make those revenues available to the Department of Justice, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for these purposes. This bill would make findings and declarations of the Legislature, and state the intent of the Legislature, with regard to these matters. The bill would make other related conforming changes. The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would recognize National Flag Day on June 14, 2012, honor the 52nd anniversary of the flying of the current American flag, and encourage all Californians to celebrate the occasion with appropriate activities.

Existing law provides for protection, care, and assistance for people of the state, and the promotion of the welfare and happiness of all people in the state by providing appropriate aid and services to the needy and distressed. Programs established for this purpose include CalWORKs, which provides cash assistance and other social services to needy families, using federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds, and CalFresh, whereby nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Counties administer the CalWORKs and CalFresh programs. This bill, the Social Services Modernization Act of 2012, would require a final operational state plan submitted by any department administered by the Secretary of California Health and Human Services state agency to a federal agency in the context of providing public social services to be electronically available on the relevant department's Internet Web site, as specified. This bill would, pending approval of any necessary federal waivers, require the State Department of Social Services to promulgate regulations to authorize applicants for and recipients of aid to electronically access notices and communications pertaining to eligibility and benefit issuance, as specified. The bill would authorize applicants and recipients to opt out of receiving electronic notice, and would provide for the confidentiality of an applicant's or recipient's electronic information, as specified. This bill would prohibit a county from requiring an applicant or recipient for public benefits to verify information provided to the county, except when the verification is required by federal law, or is necessary to determine eligibility for aid or to compute the amount of aid. If the verification is inconsistent with other verified information, this bill would require a county eligibility worker to provide to the applicant or recipient a notice of action specifying the type of verification required to verify eligibility, as specified. This bill would require county human services departments to maximize use of electronic means of verifying applicant and recipient information, and would require the state to work with counties to develop a protocol enabling statewide use by applicants and recipients of public social services programs of a specified electronic database developed to verify eligibility information for the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This bill would provide that the identity of, or certain information relating to, an applicant or recipient shall be considered to be verified under prescribed circumstances. This bill would revise procedures relating to public social services application and recertification interviews to require these interviews to be conducted in person, by telephone, or by other electronic means, to promote administrative efficiency and reduce costs to applicants and recipients. Existing law, with certain exceptions, requires every individual, as a condition of eligibility for aid under the CalWORKs program, to participate in welfare-to-work activities. This bill would deem an adult CalWORKs recipient to be in compliance with existing welfare-to-work requirements if he or she meets the minimum federal welfare-to-work requirements. The bill would provide that a person satisfying these requirements would be eligible for specified support services, and would not be subject to sanction for failure or refusal to comply with program requirements, as specified. Existing law prohibits an applicant from being granted public assistance, as specified, until he or she is personally interviewed by the county welfare department or state hospital staff. This bill would no longer require these interviews to be conducted personally, and would require the county to conduct the interview on the same day of the initial application, to the extent it is cost effective and administratively possible for the department. This bill would apply these provisions to applicants for CalFresh benefits. Existing law requires a county welfare department, to the extent provided by federal law, to provide CalFresh benefits on an expedited basis to certain households. This bill would require the department, to the extent allowed by federal law and any federal waivers secured by the department, to postpone expedited service interviews that have been attempted and require that the interviews be conducted at the same time as the interview for issuance of regular CalFresh benefits, as specified, and to issue expedited service to any applicant who meets expedited service eligibility requirements and whose identity has been verified, as specified. Existing law requires county welfare departments to provide transitional CalFresh benefits to households terminating their participation in the CalWORKs program, to the maximum extent allowable by federal law. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to implement the above requirement so as to maximize continued enrollment of eligible recipients, pursuant to a specified federal regulation. This bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement the bill by means of all-county letters or similar instructions, by January 1, 2013. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would declare that no appropriation would be made for purposes of implementing the bill. Because this bill would increase duties of counties administering public social services programs, 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 these statutory provisions.

(1) Existing state and federal laws, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, require elections officials to provide language assistance to voters with limited English proficiency in order to access voting information and cast their votes at the polling place. Existing law also requires elections officials, under specified circumstances, to make reasonable efforts to recruit elections officials who are fluent in a language used by citizens who lack sufficient skill in English to vote without assistance. This bill would revise the recruitment provisions to apply to precincts in which the precinct board is required to post translated facsimile ballots and would require a county, not later than August 1, 2015, and not later than August 1 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, to submit a specified report to the Secretary of State describing the county's plan for compliance with state and federal laws enacted to assist voters with limited English proficiency. The bill would require the Secretary of State to post those reports on his or her Internet Web site not later than 90 days prior to each statewide election held in an even-numbered year, and would further require the Secretary of State to issue guidance for a uniform standard report format for this purpose that includes, at a minimum, specified information that sets forth the county's plan for protecting the rights of voters with limited English proficiency. By increasing the duties of local elections officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require a county elections official to evaluate complaints filed against precinct board members and would require the Secretary of State to develop a list of the best practices for elections officials and for precinct board member training, as specified. The Secretary of State would also be required to consult with an advisory body composed of specified members for this purpose. (2) Under existing law, in counties where the Secretary of State has determined that it is appropriate, each precinct board is required to post, in a conspicuous location in the polling place, at least one facsimile copy of the ballot with the ballot measures and ballot instructions printed in Spanish. Existing law also requires the Secretary of State, in determining whether it is appropriate to post the election materials in Spanish or other languages, to determine the number of residents of voting age in each county and precinct who are members of a single language minority, and who lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance based on a specified formula or information provided by interested citizens or organizations. Existing law also requires the Secretary of State to make these determinations and findings by January 1 of each year in which the Governor is elected. This bill would provide that interested citizens or organizations may, alternatively, provide this information to the local elections official and would require the Secretary of State to make these determinations and findings not less frequently than by January 1 of each year in which the Governor is elected and each year following an adjustment of district boundary lines pursuant to Article XXI of the California Constitution and specified provisions of the Elections Code. The bill would apply these provisions to new precincts. (3) 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 these statutory provisions.

(1) Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires persons convicted of specified sex offenses to register with local authorities for life while residing, located, attending school, or working in California. Willful failure to register, as required, is a misdemeanor, or a felony, depending on the underlying offense. Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of various community care and child care facilities by the State Department of Social Services. This bill would prohibit a person required to register under the act from residing, except as specified, working, or volunteering in, among other places, foster homes or facilities licensed by the State Department of Social Services or a county child welfare services agency. Violation of this prohibition would be a misdemeanor. The bill would also authorize a juvenile court to waive this prohibition if the residence involved is that of a noncustodial parent, relative, or nonrelative extended family member who receives the placement of a child who is or may be declared a dependent of the court and the court finds that placing the child in that residence is in the child's best interest. This bill would require specified officials who register a person under the act to make a specified determination regarding the registration, notify the person when his or her registered residence or place of employment would be prohibited by the bill, and take appropriate law enforcement action, or make a specified notification, including notifying the county child welfare agency and the Department of Social Services, as specified, if the person registers at a prohibited residence or place of employment. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, by January 1, 2014, provide specified public officers and persons or entities that register a person who is required to register with the addresses or other equivalent data of, among other things, foster homes or facilities that serve children under 18 years of age and that are licensed by the department or a county child welfare agency. This bill would also require specified investigators of the State Department of Social Services to compare the residence and employment addresses of persons required to register under the act against the addresses of certain facilities, including, among others, foster homes or facilities licensed by the department or a county child welfare agency. The bill would require investigators to immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, make a report, as specified, to the appropriate county child welfare agency and the State Department of Social Services if those addresses match. (2) Existing law, the California Child Day Care Act, requires the Director of Social Services to annually publish and make available certain lists covering all licensed child day care facilities, other than small family day care homes, as defined, and the services for which each facility has been licensed. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to prevent the use of lists containing names, addresses, and other identifying information of small family day care homes, except for specified purposes, including, among others, providing the names and addresses of these small family day care homes to certain state agencies, programs, organizations, or plans. This bill would include a local law enforcement agency among the agencies that may receive lists containing the names, addresses, and other identifying information of small family day care homes, as specified. This bill would create a new crime and impose additional duties upon local officials, thereby creating 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.