Asm. Dante Acosta

The Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act establishes the Community-Based Services Network, administered by the California Department of Aging, which requires the department to enter into contracts with local area agencies on aging to carry out the requirements of various community-based services programs, including the Alzheimer's Day Care Resource Center Program. The act declares that the purpose of the program is to provide access to specialized day care resource centers for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia-related disorders and support to their families and caregivers. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various deductions from gross income in computing adjusted gross income under that law, including deductions for payments to individual retirement accounts, alimony payments, and interest on educational loans. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, would allow a deduction in computing adjusted gross income for those amounts paid or incurred by a qualified first-time home buyer, as defined, during the taxable year for qualified home-buying expenses, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

(1) Under existing law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to continue the prohibition against Southern California Gas Company injecting any natural gas into the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles until a comprehensive review of the safety of the gas storage wells at the facility is completed, as specified, the supervisor determines that well integrity has been ensured by the review, the risks of failures identified in the review have been addressed, the supervisor's duty to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources, and other requirements is satisfied, and the Executive Director of the Public Utilities Commission has concurred via letter with the supervisor regarding his or her determination of safety. This bill would additionally require the supervisor to continue that prohibition until a specified root cause analysis of the natural gas leak from the facility that started approximately October 23, 2015, has been completed and released in its entirety to the public. The bill would, notwithstanding that prohibition, authorize the Governor to order incremental injections at the facility, but only if the Governor determines it is necessary to avoid, or respond to, an emergency situation. (2) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is authorized to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state. Existing law requires the commission, no later than July 1, 2017, to open a proceeding to determine the feasibility of minimizing or eliminating use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles while still maintaining energy and electric reliability for the region, and to consult with specified entities in making its determination. This bill would require the commission, in conducting the proceeding, to act in the manner that will maximize transparency. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. Under existing law, the county is required to annually redetermine eligibility for CalWORKs benefits and, at the time of redetermination, require the family to complete a certificate of eligibility. Existing law additionally requires the county to redetermine recipient eligibility and grant amounts on a semiannual basis and requires the recipient to submit a semiannual report form during the first semiannual reporting period following the application or annual redetermination of eligibility. Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known in California as CalFresh, under which food assistance benefits are distributed to eligible individuals by the counties. Existing law requires, to the extent permitted by federal law, the department to implement the semiannual reporting system, including use of the semiannual report form, in the CalFresh program This bill would require the county to use either a prepopulated renewal form or a blank semiannual report form as the certificate of eligibility for the purposes of CalWORKs and CalFresh.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes any licensee or registrant whose license expired while he or she was on active duty as a member of the California National Guard or the United States Armed Forces to reinstate his or her license or registration without examination or penalty if certain requirements are met. Existing law also requires the boards to waive the renewal fees, continuing education requirements, and other renewal requirements, if applicable, of any licensee or registrant called to active duty as a member of the United States Armed Forces or the California National Guard, if certain requirements are met. Existing law requires each board to inquire in every application if the individual applying for licensure is serving in, or has previously served in, the military. Existing law requires a board within the Department of Consumer Affairs to expedite, and authorizes a board to assist with, the initial licensure process for an applicant who has served as an active duty member of the United States Armed Forces and was honorably discharged. This bill would require every board within the Department of Consumer Affairs to grant a fee waiver for the application for and the issuance of an initial license to an applicant who supplies satisfactory evidence, as defined, to the board that the applicant has served as an active duty member of the California National Guard or the United States Armed Forces and was honorably discharged. The bill would require that a veteran be granted only one fee waiver, except as specified.

Under existing law, except as specified, every vehicle registration and registration card expires at midnight on the expiration date designated by the director and is required to be renewed prior to the expiration of the registration year. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew a vehicle registration upon payment of the proper fees. Under existing law, renewal of registration for a currently registered vehicle may be obtained not more than 75 days prior to the expiration of the current registration. This bill would require the department, by an unspecified date, to develop and implement an opt-in, automatic vehicle registration process. The bill would require the department to automatically bill a vehicle owner's credit card for the renewal fee no more than 75 days prior to the expiration of the current registration. The bill would require the department to provide the vehicle owner with advance notice of the date of the scheduled renewal fee charge, as well as any additional information required by the department to complete the renewal. The bill would require the vehicle owner to use an alternative renewal method if he or she does not provide the department with the required additional information within a specified timeframe. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations governing the procedures for accepting automatic vehicle registration renewals.

(1) Existing law, as amended by Proposition 83, the Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act (Jessica's Law) , approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, makes a defendant subject to imprisonment in the state prison for 25 years to life if convicted of certain crimes, including rape, sexual penetration, sodomy, oral copulation, continuous sexual abuse of a child, or rape, spousal rape, or sexual penetration in concert, if certain circumstances were present, including, among other things, in the commission of that offense, any person kidnapped the victim, tortured the victim, or committed the offense during the commission of a burglary, as specified. Existing law also makes a defendant subject to imprisonment in the state prison for 15 years to life if convicted of certain crimes, including rape, sexual penetration, sodomy, oral copulation, continuous sexual abuse of a child, or rape, spousal rape, or sexual penetration in concert, if certain circumstances were present, including, among other things, in the commission of that offense any person, except as specified in the provisions above, kidnapped the victim, committed the offense during the commission of a burglary, or used a dangerous or deadly weapon in the commission of the offense. Proposition 83 provides that the Legislature may amend the provisions of the act to expand the scope of their application or increase the punishment or penalties by a statute passed by a majority vote of each house of the Legislature. This bill would add the crimes of rape, sexual penetration, sodomy, and oral copulation, perpetrated against a person who is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, to the above provisions, if the victim is developmentally disabled, as defined. By applying the above enhancements to these crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law makes a defendant subject to imprisonment in the state prison for 25 years to life if convicted of certain crimes, including rape, spousal rape or sexual penetration in concert, sexual penetration, sodomy, or oral copulation if certain circumstances were present, including, among other things, in the commission of that offense, any person kidnapped the victim, committed the offense during the commission of a burglary, or used a dangerous or deadly weapon in the commission of the offense, or under other specified circumstances, and the crime was committed against a minor 14 years of age or older. This bill would add the crimes of rape, sexual penetration, sodomy, and oral copulation, perpetrated against a person who is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, to the above provisions, if the victim is developmentally disabled, as defined. By applying the above enhancements to these crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires that a person who commits certain enumerated crimes, including rape, sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration, against a person who is 65 years of age or older, or against a person who is blind, deaf, developmentally disabled, a paraplegic, or a quadriplegic, or against a person who is under 14 years of age, receive a one-year sentence enhancement and requires that any person having a prior conviction for any of the enumerated offenses receive a 2-year sentence enhancement. This bill would add to the enumerated list of crimes rape, sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration, perpetrated against a person who is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent. By applying the above enhancements to these crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) 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.

Under existing law, the California Workforce Development Board is the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law prescribes specific tasks with which the board assists the Governor, including the development and updating of comprehensive state performance accountability measures, including state-adjusted levels of performance, to assess the effectiveness of the core programs in the state as required under specific federal law. This bill would direct the California Workforce Development Board to convene and lead a task force with the goal of resolving inconsistencies among performance measures for the state's workforce education and training programs. The bill would require that the task force consist of 12 members, including a representative from each of 7 state departments. The bill would require the task force to consult with workforce and economic development officials, employers, and other agencies that administer workforce programs, as specified. The bill would require the task force to provide recommendations to the Legislature on or before an unspecified date.

Existing law authorizes the adoption of a proposition for indebtedness in the form of general obligation bonds incurred by specified educational entities for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities upon the approval of 55% of the voters, if the proposition includes specified accountability requirements. Existing law requires, if a bond measure of that kind is approved, the governing board of the school district or community college district to establish and appoint members to an independent citizens' oversight committee for the purpose of informing the public on the expenditure of the bond revenues. Existing law requires that the citizens' oversight committee consist of at least 7 members, and requires a member to serve for a minimum term of 2 years and for no more than 3 consecutive terms. This bill would instead require a member of the citizens' oversight committee to serve on the committee for no less than one 2-year term and for no more than 6 consecutive 2-year terms.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including certain credits that are allowed in modified conformity to credits allowed by federal income tax laws. Federal income tax laws allow a refundable earned income tax credit for certain low-income individuals who have earned income from wages, salaries, tips, and other employee compensation plus net earnings from self-employment and who meet certain other requirements. The Personal Income Tax Law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income credit against personal income tax, which is only for earned income from wages, salaries, tips, and other employee compensation, and a payment in excess of that credit amount, to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor as set forth in the annual Budget Act which, unless otherwise specified in that act, is 0%. This bill, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2017, would expand the earned income credit allowed by the Personal Income Tax Law by providing additional conformity with federal income tax law to include specified net earnings from self-employment in earned income, thus allowing an earned income credit for taxpayers for those earnings. This bill would additionally set the earned income tax credit adjustment factor as 85%. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account, including any amount allowable as an earned income credit in excess of any tax liabilities. By authorizing new payments from that account for additional amounts in excess of personal income tax liabilities, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.