Existing law provides for the civil commitment of criminal offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators for treatment in a secure state hospital facility, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to refer a prisoner for evaluation by the State Department of Mental Health when he or she determines that the person may be a sexually violent predator and specifies the judicial processes necessary for civil commitment as a sexually violent predator, including, but not limited to, the right to a jury trial. Existing law, as amended by Proposition 83 of the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, requires an indeterminate civil commitment for persons who have been determined to be sexually violent predators, requires the Department of Mental Health to file an annual report for a person who has been civilly committed as a sexually violent predator, and sets forth who may receive copies of the report. Proposition 83 permits the Legislature to amend the initiative, either by a 23 vote of the membership of each house, or by majority vote of the membership of each house if the amendments expand the scope of the application of the provisions of the proposition or increase the punishments or penalties provided in the proposition. This bill would allow each side in the jury trial to use 10 peremptory challenges in selecting the jury. The bill would give the county's designated attorney in related proceedings access to all records concerning the person that is the subject of the proceeding, without the necessity of a court order. The bill would make findings regarding the necessity for indeterminate terms for sexually violent predator civil commitment.
Sponsored bills
The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state in the amount of 1% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided, for a specified amount of time. Existing law, operative until June 30, 2011, also imposes an additional tax to the vehicle license fee equal to 0.15% of the market value of specified vehicles, as determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, to be deposited in the General Fund and transferred to the Local Safety and Protection Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would appropriate $506,400,000 from the General Fund to be deposited in the Local Safety and Protection Account, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
Existing federal law, the Single Audit Act of 1984, requires any nonfederal entity, defined as states, local governments, or nonprofit organizations, that accepts $300,000 or more in federal money to prepare an annual audit that meets certain specifications and transmit that audit to specified federal agencies. Existing law requires the Controller to receive every audit report prepared by any local public agency pursuant to the federal Single Audit Act of 1984, and that the Controller review those reports for compliance with federal law before forwarding them to the designated state agency. This bill would additionally require that, if an audit of a local agency reveals certain financial irregularities, the findings be sent separately to the Controller immediately after the audit has been concluded. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the Controller to prepare and transmit a report on those findings, and the Controller's recommendations, to the Assembly Committee on Local Government and the Senate Committee on Local Government. 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.
Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards are the principal state agencies with responsibility for the coordination and control of water quality in the state. The act requires the state board to formulate and adopt state policies for water quality control, and requires the regional boards to adopt regional water quality control plans in compliance with the state policies. This bill would require the state board, on or before July 1, 2013, to adopt a statewide policy establishing a statewide water quality objective and plan of implementation for chloride and other measures of salinity that may affect the suitability of water used for agricultural purposes, in accordance with prescribed requirements.
The Public Employees' Retirement Law provides a comprehensive set of rights and benefits based upon age, service credit, and final compensation to members of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Any person who has been retired under the system is generally prohibited from being employed in any capacity unless he or she is first reinstated from retirement, except as authorized. Existing law authorizes a retired person to serve without reinstatement from retirement or loss or interruption of benefits provided by the Public Employees' Retirement System as a member of any board, commission, or advisory committee, as specified. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that provision.
Existing law, with certain exceptions, makes privileged any confidential communication between a lawyer and a client. Among other things, existing law provides an exception to the privilege if the services of the lawyer were sought or obtained to enable or aid anyone to commit or plan to commit a crime or fraud. This bill would provide an exception to the privilege if the lawyer reasonably believes that disclosure of any confidential communication relating to representation of a client is necessary to prevent the client from committing a crime or fraud that is reasonably certain to result in substantial injury to the financial interests or property of another person and in furtherance of which the client has used or is using the lawyer's services. The bill also would provide an exception to the privilege if the lawyer reasonably believes that disclosure of any confidential communication relating to representation of a client is necessary to prevent, mitigate, or rectify substantial injury to the financial interests or property of another person that is reasonably certain to result or has resulted from the client's commission of a crime or fraud in furtherance of which the client has used the lawyer's services.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit to be achieved by 2020, equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions levels in 1990. The act requires the state board, on or before January 1, 2011, to adopt greenhouse gas emission limits and emission reduction measures by regulation to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, with the regulations to become operative beginning January 1, 2012. This bill would make technical and nonsubstantive changes to the above requirements.
(1) Existing law prohibits the taking of private property without the payment of just compensation and permits a person to maintain an action in inverse condemnation for the purpose of obtaining compensation for a taking. Existing law applies the doctrine of comparative fault for the purpose of apportioning responsibility and reducing damages to the extent a plaintiff is found partially at fault. This bill would apply the doctrine of comparative fault to inverse condemnation actions and would require a court or arbitrator to reduce the compensation paid to a plaintiff in an inverse condemnation proceeding, in direct proportion to his or her percentage of fault, if any, in the damaging of property that constitutes a taking. The bill would make these provisions applicable only to inverse condemnation actions filed on or after January 1, 2013. (2) Existing law governs offers by a party to compromise a dispute that is to be resolved by trial or arbitration. Existing law provides in this regard, among other things, that if the defendant makes an offer that the plaintiff does not accept, and the plaintiff fails to obtain a more favorable judgment or award, the plaintiff is prohibited from recovering his or her postoffer costs and is required to pay the defendant's costs from the time of the offer. Existing law also awards to the plaintiff in an inverse condemnation proceeding reasonable costs actually incurred because of that proceeding in the trial court, or in any appellate proceeding, in which the plaintiff prevails on any issue in that proceeding. This bill would provide, notwithstanding the latter provision, that if the defendant in an inverse condemnation action filed on or after January 1, 2013, makes an offer that the plaintiff does not accept, and the plaintiff fails to obtain a judgment or award, the plaintiff shall not recover his or her postoffer costs and shall pay the defendant's postoffer costs. Additionally, the bill would provide that the plaintiff may be required to pay the defendant's costs for expert witnesses. Alternatively, if the plaintiff rejects the offer and fails to obtain a more favorable judgment or award, the bill would prohibit the plaintiff from recovering his or her postoffer costs, but would provide that the plaintiff shall not be ordered to pay the defendant's postoffer costs.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit against those taxes for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, in an amount equal to a specified percentage of the qualified expenditures, as defined, attributable to the production of a qualified motion picture in California, or, where the qualified motion picture has relocated to California or is an independent film, as provided. Existing law requires the California Film Commission to allocate the tax credits until July 1, 2014, and limits the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated to qualified motion pictures in any fiscal year to $100,000,000, through the 2013–14 fiscal year. This bill, under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, would extend the California Film Commission's requirement to allocate the tax credits one additional year, until July 1, 2015. This bill would also extend the limit on the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated through the 2014–15 fiscal year. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) Existing law generally regulates the storage of hazardous substances in underground storage tanks, including requiring underground storage tanks that are used to store hazardous substances to meet certain requirements. Existing law requires tank owners and operators to report unauthorized releases to local agencies, which includes specified information, and requires the State Water Resources Control Board to continuously post and update on its Internet Web site reports of information concerning unauthorized releases. This bill would instead require the owner or operator to transmit certain information regarding an unauthorized release to the local agency on a written form or using an electronic format developed by the board and approved by the Secretary for Environmental Protection. The bill would require additional information to be provided to the local agency. The bill would also instead require each regional board and local agency to submit a report to the board for all unauthorized releases using the board's Internet-accessible database, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon local agencies. The bill would require the board to annually post and update on its Internet Web site the information in those reports concerning unauthorized releases. The bill would authorize the board to adopt regulations to specify reporting requirements to implement these provisions, including electronic submission requirements for these reports. The bill would require the regulations to be adopted as emergency regulations and would exempt the adoption of these regulations from certain requirements regarding review by the Office of Administrative Law. (2) Existing law requires a uniform closure letter to be issued to the owner, operator, or other responsible party taking corrective action at an underground storage tank site by the local agency or the regional board with jurisdiction over the site, or the State Water Resources Control Board, upon a finding that the underground storage tank site is in compliance with specified requirements and with any corrective action regulations adopted by the board and that no further corrective action is required at the site. This bill would require that closure letters issued pursuant to the above-described provisions on or after January 1, 2012, include language notifying the owner, operator, or other responsible party of the filing deadline for claims for reimbursement of corrective action costs that are received by the board more than 365 days after the date of issuance of a closure letter or after the issuance or activation of a letter of commitment, whichever occurs later. (3) Existing law authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to close a tank case if that tank case is under the jurisdiction of a regional board or a local agency implementing a local oversight program and the board determines that the corrective action at the site complies with specified requirements. Existing law allows the board to recommend that a local agency close that tank case if the tank case is at a site of a local agency that is not implementing the local oversight program. Existing law also authorizes the manager of the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund, with the approval of the tank owner or operator, to make a recommendation to the board for closure of any tank case. This bill would instead authorize the board to require closure of any underground storage tank case where an unauthorized release has occurred and the board makes that determination. The bill would delete the board's authority to recommend closure to a local agency that is not implementing the local oversight program. The board would be required, before closing or requiring closure of an underground storage tank case, to provide an opportunity for reviewing and providing responses to the petition or the manager's recommendation to the applicable regional board, local agency, specified water district, or special act district with groundwater management authority. This bill would, upon the manager of the fund recommending case closure, to limit reimbursement of subsequently incurred corrective action costs to $10,000 per year, except as specified. (4) Existing law allows a person required to perform corrective action pursuant to a specified provision to apply to the State Water Resources Control Board for payment of a claim for specified portions of the costs of the corrective action and third-party damages. This bill would additionally authorize a person required to perform corrective action under certain federal laws to apply to the board for payment of a claim. The bill would also require that claims for reimbursement of corrective action costs that are received by the board more than 365 days after the date of issuance of a closure letter or after the issuance or activation of a letter of commitment, whichever occurs later, not be reimbursed unless one of 2 specified conditions apply. The bill would require the board, for cases that have been issued a closure letter prior to January 1, 2012, to notify claimants of the 365-day filing deadline on or before March 31, 2012, or upon issuance of a letter of commitment, whichever occurs later. (5) The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute, but the changes made by the bill would only become operative if, and on the date that, AB 291 is chaptered. (6) 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.