Asm. Dante Acosta

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2023, would allow as a credit against those taxes an amount equal to 50% of the qualified amount paid or incurred, not to exceed $10,000, to a robotics club at a school in California during the taxable year. The bill would limit the aggregate amount of these credits to be allocated in each calendar year to up to $1,000,000. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to allocate and certify these tax credits to taxpayers on a first-come-first-served basis. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The Corporation Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill, upon appropriation of specified funds by the Legislature, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2025, would allow a credit against the taxes imposed under that law to a qualified taxpayer, as defined to mean a taxpayer that increases its workforce by 20 annual full-time equivalent qualified employees, as compared to the taxpayer's base year, in an amount equal to 17.5% of qualified wages paid or incurred during the taxable year to a qualified employee, not to exceed $5,000,000 per qualified taxpayer per taxable year. The bill would limit the credit to the first 5 consecutive, taxable years after a qualified taxpayer first qualifies to receive the credit, subject to specified requirements. The bill would limit the aggregate amount of credits to be allocated in each calendar year to up to $50,000,000. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to allocate and certify credits to taxpayers on a first-come-first-served basis. The bill also would include that additional information required for any bill authorizing a new income tax credit. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Those laws provide various exemptions from those taxes. This bill, on and after January 1, 2018, would exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tampons, sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law prohibits the sale of a plastic product, as defined, labeled as "compostable," "home compostable," or "marine degradable" unless it meets specified ASTM International standard specifications, the OK Compost HOME certification, as specified, or a standard adopted by the department, or unless the plastic product is labeled with a qualified claim for which the department has adopted an existing standard, and the plastic product meets that standard. Existing law prohibits the sale of a plastic product that is labeled as "biodegradable," "degradable," "decomposable," or as otherwise specified. Existing law provides for the imposition of a civil penalty by a city, county, or the state for a violation of those prohibitions. Existing law, until January 1, 2018, requires a manufacturer or supplier of plastic products making an environmental marketing claim relating to the recycled content of a plastic food container product to maintain specified information and documentation in written form in its records in support of that claim, and to provide that information and documentation upon request or on the Internet, as specified. This bill would extend the operation of that provision indefinitely.

Existing law requires, in the event that the debtor has more than one debt being collected by the Franchise Tax Board and the amount collected is insufficient to satisfy the total amount owed, the amount collected to be applied to specified priorities. Existing law also establishes, for tax liabilities that are due and payable, as defined, before, on, or after July 1, 2006, a statute of limitations on collections of those liabilities to limit the collection period to 20 years beginning from the last statutory lien date for each taxable year, and would extinguish that liability for that taxable year by abating the underlying tax. This bill, beginning January 1, 2020, would make restitution payments to victims of crimes the first priority for debt collected by the Franchise Tax Board and would provide for a stay on the statute of limitations for collection of tax due for the period for which an outstanding restitution amount exists.

(1) Existing law establishes the Employment Training Panel within the Employment Development Department, and prescribes the functions and duties of the panel with respect to the development, implementation, and administration of various employment training programs in the state. Existing law requires the panel, among other things, to create and annually update a 3-year plan, fund training projects that best meet the panel's identified priorities, and solicit proposals and write contracts for the purpose of providing employment training. Existing law sets forth certain requirements for those contracts, including, but not limited to, that a job generated by a contract compensate an employee at a specified percentage of the state hourly wage, and that an eligible participant be employed at a minimum of 90 days by his or her employer. Existing law requires the panel to submit an annual report to the Legislature that contains summaries of information related to projects operated by the panel. This bill would require the panel to solicit proposals and write performance-based contracts to fund projects that expedite and increase the number of middle-skill workers employed in an eligible industry. This bill would require projects funded by this program to comply with certain requirements. This bill would authorize the panel to negotiate, on a case-by-case basis, to include specified provisions in a contract with an eligible applicant, including a provision authorizing the panel to waive, negotiate, or adjust the state hourly wage and 90-day requirement for contracts funded. The bill would also require the panel, when preparing the annual report described above to separately identify projects funded by these provisions. (2) Existing federal law, the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, allocates funds to state and local workforce development boards for workforce investment activities. In order to be eligible to receive certain allotments under the act, the governor of each state is required to designate a state workforce development board, and to prepare and submit a state plan to the United States Secretary of Labor, in accordance with certain requirements. A state workforce development board is responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, implementation, and modification of a state plan, as well as other duties relating to workforce development within the state. Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system. Under existing administrative law, the board and the Employment Development Department have established the Accelerator Grant Program that funds projects and partnerships to create and prototype innovative strategies that bridge education and workforce gaps for targeted populations, and initial implementation of promising models and practices in workforce system service delivery infrastructure. This bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to create a grant program, known as the Employment Revitalization Initiative, that would award grants to applicants for a project that assists eligible targeted populations and meets other requirements. The bill would require the board to establish criteria for the selection of grant recipients, and require that applicants include certain provisions in applications. The bill would also require the board to evaluate how the grants address the needs of eligible targeted populations, and, by January 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, post a report on the board's Internet Web site. This bill would create the Employment Revitalization Fund within the State Treasury as a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would also create the Workforce Accelerator Account, a continuously appropriated fund, as an account within the Employment Revitalization Fund to be used by the board to supplement, but not supplant, the existing Accelerator Grant Program, as specified. (3) This bill would appropriate $310,000,000 from the General Fund for purposes of this bill in accordance with a specified schedule.

Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The University of California provides instruction and performs research at the 10 campuses it operates and maintains in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to the aerospace industry in this state. The bill would request the regents to establish the California Institute for Aerospace to achieve specified goals relating to the development of the aerospace industry in the state. The bill would also request the regents to locate the California Institute for Aerospace at a satellite campus within 20 miles of Edwards Air Force Base or United States Air Force Plant 42 so that it will be in close proximity to a large part of California's current aerospace research and development. The bill would provide that it would be implemented only to the extent that the regents determine that adequate funding for its purposes has been provided to the University of California, as specified.

Existing law provides that certain specified felonies are punished by imprisonment in a county jail, but requires that the sentence be served in state prison if the defendant has a prior or current conviction for a serious or violent felony, has a prior felony conviction in another jurisdiction that has all of the elements of a serious or violent felony, is required to register as a sex offender, or has an aggravated white collar crime enhancement imposed as part of the sentence. This bill would additionally require a sentence to be served in state prison if the defendant is convicted of a felony or felonies otherwise punishable in a county jail and is sentenced to an aggregate term of more than 3 years.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law including in modified conformity with federal tax law, a deduction for that portion of medical expenses that is more than 7.5% of adjusted gross income. Self-employed individuals are allowed to deduct health insurance premiums for medical expenses incurred by the taxpayer in lieu of the itemized deduction for medical expenses. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, would allow a deduction from gross income under the Personal Income Tax Law for the amounts paid or incurred by a taxpayer during the taxable year for medical insurance for medical care, as defined, and for transportation for and essential to that medical care, as provided. The bill would not allow as an itemized deduction, the amount allowed as a deduction from gross income as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2017, for microbusinesses, as defined, for costs paid or incurred during the taxable year with regard to compliance with state laws and regulations in an amount equal to $25 for each person-hour spent on compliance with state regulations and laws, not to exceed $1,200, or $1,200, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.