Rep. Cameron Smyth

This measure would recognize the 25th anniversary of the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial on November 23, 2013, and encourage all Californians to take part in ceremonies, organized by the California State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America along with assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs and other veterans service organizations. This measure would call upon the state archives to display memorabilia in a special display on the Vietnam War, as provided, the California State Military Museum to prepare and display exhibits on the Vietnam War, as provided, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to add names to the memorial, as provided.

This measure would declare December 12, 2012, as California Bullying Prevention Day, and would recognize the need for individuals, schools, communities, businesses, local governments, and the state to take action on behalf of bullying prevention in California.

Existing law requires an owner, operator, or other responsible party to take corrective action in response to an unauthorized release of petroleum from an underground storage tank. Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board, a regional board, or a local agency may undertake or contract for corrective action in response to that unauthorized release. The State Water Resources Control Board is authorized to close, or to require the closure of, an underground storage tank case where an unauthorized release has occurred, if the board determines that the corrective action at the site complies with specified requirements. Existing law requires the manager of the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund to annually review certain tank cases and authorizes the manager, with the approval of the tank owner or operator, to make a recommendation to the board for closure of a tank case. If the manager recommends closing a tank case, existing law requires the board to limit reimbursement of subsequently incurred corrective action costs to $10,000, except as specified. This bill would require the manager, upon a determination that closure of the tank case is appropriate based upon that review, to provide a review summary report to the applicable regional board and local agency and provide opportunity for comment. The bill would prohibit the regional board or local agency from issuing a corrective action directive or enforcing an existing corrective action directive for a tank case for which the manager has provided this review summary report, until the board issues a decision regarding the closure of the tank case, except as specified. The bill would specify that the $10,000 limit for corrective action costs after tank closure includes costs for groundwater monitoring. The bill would make a statement of legislative intent regarding the board's actions regarding these tank cases.

This measure would urge the United States Postal Service to end its plan to reduce the frequency of mail delivery from 6 days to 5 days a week, and to take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of this 6-day mail delivery service.

This measure would proclaim August 15, 2012, as India's Independence Day, and would urge all Californians to join in celebrating India's independence.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which provides a defined benefit to its employees based on age at retirement, service credit, and final or highest compensation paid to the employee. Existing law authorizes any public agency to participate in, and make its employees members of, PERS by contract. In the case of an employee who has been employed by one or more contracting public agencies, retirement benefits distributed to that employee are based on the highest final compensation under any system, and each system makes a separate retirement payment to the employee based upon the number of years that the employee worked for each of those agencies. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that a contracting agency not experience a significant increase in actuarial liability due to increased compensation paid by another contracting agency to a nonrepresented employee. The bill would require the Board of Administration of PERS to develop guidelines in this regard and to implement program changes to ensure that a contracting agency that creates a significant increase in actuarial liability due to increased compensation bears the associated liability. The bill would require the system actuary to assess an increase in liability in this regard to the employer that created it at the time the increase is determined and to make adjustments to that employer's rates as needed. The bill would apply these requirements to any significant increase in actuarial liability due to increased compensation paid to a nonrepresented employee regardless of when the increase in compensation occurred. The bill would require the board to report to the Legislature on the implementation of these provisions. Existing law requires the Board of Administration of PERS to establish a plan of replacement benefits for members and any survivors or beneficiaries whose retirement benefits are limited by a specified provision of federal law and that cannot be fully maximized pursuant to PERL. This bill would prohibit a plan of replacement benefits from being administered by the board for a person who first becomes a member on or after January 1, 2013.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 15 in the County of San Diego as the Tuskegee Airmen Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

(1) Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, sets forth the procedures for incorporations and changes of organizations of cities, including procedures for disincorporation. This bill would authorize the board of supervisors of a county in which a city that will be disincorporated pursuant to statute is located to vote to continue that city if, after receipt of an audit conducted by the State Auditor, the board of supervisors determines that the territory to be disincorporated is not expected to generate revenues sufficient to provide public services and facilities, maintain a reasonable reserve, and pay its obligations during the 5 years following disincorporation. The bill would require a city that is audited pursuant to these provisions to reimburse the State Auditor for the costs incurred to perform the audit, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (2) The Community Services District Law authorizes the organization and powers of a community services district, as specified, to provide for, among other things, the supply of water for any beneficial uses, fire protection services, police and law enforcement services, the financing of an area planning commission, the financing of a municipal advisory commission, and the acquisition, construction, improvement, and maintenance of streets or roads. This bill would create a community services district in the unincorporated area of a county if that unincorporated area of the county was previously a city that was disincorporated by statute and had, immediately prior to disincorporation, provided fire protection, water, telecommunications, gas, or electric utility services, or maintained streets or roads. The district would continue to provide those services within the territory in which the disincorporated city provided those services, and would be a successor in interest as to any contract entered into by the disincorporated city with respect to the provision of those services. The bill would, for a one-year period, limit the authority of the community services district to increase gas or electric utility rates within that territory. The bill would direct that the community services district would become the employer of nonmanagerial employees who were employed by the disincorporated city to provide any of the services described above, in accordance with any existing memorandum of understanding or other labor relations agreement, and would protect those employees from discharge absent a showing of just cause for termination, except as specified. The bill would specify that the board of supervisors for the county in which the disincorporated city was located would serve as the board of directors of the community services district. The bill would require the district or the county, as specified, to become the custodian of records of the disincorporated city, and would prohibit any officer or employee of a city, or a consultant under contract to a city, that is subject to being disincorporated from destroying those records or causing their destruction. The bill would provide that legislative acts of the board of directors of the district are not subject to initiative or referendum, and the board of directors of the district is not subject to recall. (3) The Planning and Zoning Law requires the legislative body of each city and county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the city or county, as specified. This bill would provide that, as of the effective date of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to statute, the general plan of the disincorporated city constitutes the community plan of the county for the territory of the disincorporated city, and that the zoning ordinances in effect immediately prior to the disincorporation of the city, together with any conditional use permits or any approved legal conforming uses, likewise apply, as specified. The bill would also provide that any use of land authorized under the general plan and zoning ordinances immediately preceding the effective date of the city's disincorporation would continue to be authorized for a period of not less than 10 years, as specified. (4) Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to establish, by resolution, a municipal advisory council for any unincorporated area in the county to advise the board on matters that relate to the unincorporated area, as specified. This bill would require the board of supervisors of the county in which a city that has been disincorporated by statute was located, within 45 days following the effective date of the disincorporation, to establish a municipal advisory council to operate within the territory of the disincorporated city, as specified. The bill would require the district to finance the operation of the municipal advisory council. By increasing the duties of local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law authorizes the legislative body of any city or county to adopt an ordinance that, among other things, regulates the use of buildings, structures, and land, and to regulate the location, height, bulk, number of stories, the size of buildings and structures, and the size and use of lots, yards, courts, and other open spaces. This bill would require the board of supervisors in a county in which a city that has been disincorporated by statute was located, within 90 days of the effective date of the disincorporation, to form an expedited permit process for permits related to business, development, and health and safety that is comparable to the permit process previously in place for the territory of the disincorporated city. By increasing the duties of local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to license, for revenue and regulation and to fix the license tax upon every kind of lawful business transacted in the unincorporated area of the county, as specified. This bill would require the board of supervisors of a county in which a city that has been disincorporated pursuant to statute was located to maintain, at the then-existing rates, any business license tax or business license fee of the disincorporated city that was in effect at the time of the disincorporation for a period of at least 5 years, as specified. The bill would authorize the board of supervisors to levy any additional business license tax or business license fee on the territory of the disincorporated city during the 5-year period following the effective date of the disincorporation, if an audit conducted by a 3rd-party auditor finds that additional revenues are needed in order to maintain needed services to the territory of the disincorporated city or to make required payments toward debt incurred by the city prior to disincorporation. (7) Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to levy a utility user tax on the consumption of electricity, gas, water, sewer, telephone, telegraph, and cable television services in the unincorporated area of the county. This bill would, upon the effective date of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to statute, exempt utility users within the territory of the disincorporated city from any existing county utility user tax, and would prohibit the board from levying a utility user tax on utility users within that territory for a period of 5 years following the effective date of the disincorporation. Following this 5-year period, the bill would prohibit the board from levying this tax unless the voters of the unincorporated area of the county vote to apply the utility user tax to utility users within the territory of the disincorporated city on the same basis as it is then applied throughout the unincorporated area of the county. The bill would also authorize the board of supervisors to levy a utility user tax during the 5-year period following the effective date of the disincorporation, if an audit conducted by a 3rd-party auditor finds that additional revenues are needed in order to maintain needed services to the territory of the disincorporated city or to make required payments toward debt incurred by the city prior to disincorporation. (8) Existing law governs the procedures and requirements for retention and destruction of specified records of a city. This bill would prohibit any officer or employee of a city disincorporated by statute from destroying or authorizing the destruction of any record of the city. (9) Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, requires the local agency formation commission to oversee the terms and conditions of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to that act. This bill would authorize the local agency formation commission to commence oversight of the terms and conditions of the disincorporation of a city pursuant to statute upon receipt of specified notice from the board of supervisors of the county in which a city disincorporated by statute is located. The bill would authorize the commission, upon request by the legislative body of the city, any resident of the city, an owner of property within the city, or any affected local agency, to adopt additional terms and conditions relating to the disincorporation of the city or the creation of the community services district. (10) 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. (11) The bill would become operative only if AB 46 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect.

Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of a county to establish the office of public defender for the county. Under existing law, a person is not eligible to the office of public defender unless he has been a practicing attorney in the courts of the state for at least the year preceding the date of his election or appointment. This bill would provide that a person is eligible for the Los Angeles County Public Defender if he or she is a sitting or retired judge, and as a judge meets specified qualifications, or if he or she was a judicial commissioner, magistrate, or referee, or elected public official, and meets specified qualifications. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles.