Existing law specifies information that must be included in the statewide ballot pamphlet for each state measure to be voted upon. This bill would require the Secretary of State to include in the ballot pamphlet a list of the 5 highest contributors of $50,000 or more to each primarily formed committee supporting or opposing each state measure, as well as the total amount of their contributions, as of 110 days before election day or, if a special election is called on a date before election day for that special election so as to make compliance with the 110-day timeframe infeasible, as of a later date as feasible, based on the time requirements set forth by the Secretary of State for preparation of the ballot pamphlets for that special election. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, generally provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. The act also provides that, notwithstanding this requirement, the Legislature may add to the content of the ballot pamphlet as specified in the act information regarding candidates or other information. This bill, which would permit or require additional information to be included in the ballot pamphlet, would therefore require a majority vote. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 9086 of the Elections Code and Section 88002 of the Government Code, proposed by AB 732, to be operative only if AB 732 and this bill are both enacted, both bills become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is enacted last.
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The Political Reform Act of 1974 (PRA) prohibits a member of a state board or commission, or a designated employee of a state or local government agency, from accepting gifts from any single source in any calendar year with a total value of more than $250, as adjusted biennially by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) , if the receipt of income or gifts from that source is subject to disclosure on a statement of economic interests. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and authorizes the FPPC to assess a monetary penalty if it finds a violation of the PRA has been committed. This bill would prohibit any member of the board of, and any designated employee of, the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) or State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) from accepting gifts in any calendar year with a total value of more than $50 from any single person who has secured a contract with, or submitted a contract proposal to, PERS or STRS within the previous 5 years. A gift would not be deemed to have been accepted if the gift or its equivalent dollar value is returned to the donor of the gift within 30 days after receipt of the gift. Because a knowing or willful violation of this provision would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would disqualify a vendor or contractor that makes gifts in violation of the above-described gift limit on 2 separate occasions in a 5-year period from bidding on, and being awarded, any contract for a period of 2 years from the date of the 2nd penalty assessment made by the FPPC for commission of the violation. 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 Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
This measure would designate February 27, 2012, as California Day of Remembrance for the Massacres of Armenians in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku, and would call upon the people of California to use vigilance to promote greater tolerance in Azerbaijan and ensure the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict while protecting the security of the Armenians in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
Under existing law, the governing board of a school district may require each prospective bidder for specified contracts to submit a standardized questionnaire and financial statement, including information relating to financial ability and experience in performing public works, which is required to be verified under oath. Existing law further requires a school district requiring the above information to adopt and apply a uniform system of rating bidders on the basis of the completed questionnaires and financial statements, as specified. This bill, until January 1, 2018, would require the questionnaire and uniform system of rating bidders described above to cover, at a minimum, the issues covered by the standardized questionnaire and model guidelines for rating bidders developed by the Department of Industrial Relations, as specified. This bill would provide that the questionnaire and uniform system of rating bidders described above shall not preclude the governing board of the district from prequalifying or disqualifying a subcontractor. This bill would provide that these provisions shall not apply to school districts with an average daily attendance of less than 2,500. This bill, until January 1, 2018, would also require the governing board of the district, except for school districts with an average daily attendance of less than 2,500, for certain public projects, if the governing board of the district chooses not to follow the uniform system of rating bidders described above, to use other procedures, which require a standardized questionnaire and financial statement to be verified under oath, for bidding applicable to public entities, as prescribed. The bill would also require the Director of Industrial Relations, on or before January 1, 2017, to submit a report to the Legislature evaluating whether labor violations have decreased, as specified, and to recommend improvements to the system for prequalifying contractors and subcontractors on school district projects. By expanding the scope of an existing crime and by imposing new duties on local officials, this 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, 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would allow a credit for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2012, and before January 1, 2015, an amount equal to 20% of the amount paid or incurred during a specified period in August during the taxable year for qualified school supplies, as defined, by a credentialed teacher, as defined, that are purchased for use by the credentialed teacher's pupils at a qualified educational institution, as defined. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) Existing law requires the county superintendent of schools to determine a revenue limit for each school district in the county pursuant to a specified formula based on the base revenue limit of the school district for the prior year, adjusted for inflation, and the average daily attendance for the entire school district. Existing law requires the base revenue limit for each school district for the 2011–12 fiscal year to include an adjustment computed as specified and related to funding incentives to increase beginning teachers' salaries and funding for Meals for Needy Pupils programs. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to calculate the amount of this adjustment for each school district, as specified. This bill would defer until the 2013–14 fiscal year that portion of the 2011–12 fiscal year adjustment related to funding for Meals for Needy Pupils programs. (2) A former provision, which became inoperative on July 1, 2010, and was repealed on January 1, 2011, authorized an adjustment of the revenue limit of a school district to reflect funding for Meals for Needy Pupils programs. This bill would reenact this authorization, which would be operative until July 1, 2013.
Existing law requires that in a dispute over wages due between an employee and employer, the employer is required to immediately pay to the employee, without condition, that portion of the wages that is not in dispute, leaving the employee free to pursue his or her lawful remedies for the remainder. Existing law also prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to execute a release of a claim for wages due as a requirement to pay wages, unless all wages claimed are paid. The existing California Rules of Court provide for procedures for the settlement of class actions. This bill would provide that unless approval of a settlement or compromise relating to a claim for earned wages is being sought pursuant to the California Rules of Court, an employee's waiver or release of such a wage claim that is based on a provision of the Labor Code or an order of the Industrial Welfare Commission, or is derivative of such a claim, and is covered by a pending certified or uncertified class action or representative action, shall not be valid or enforceable if that employee is a class member or a putative class member in a pending certified or uncertified class action or is represented or potentially represented in a representative action.
Existing law requires that child care be provided in 3 stages to recipients of benefits under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. The first stage of child care begins upon the entry of a person into the CalWORKs program. The 2nd stage of child care begins when a county determines that the work or approved work activity of the recipient is stable or when a recipient is making the transition off of aid and child care is available through a local stage 2 program. The 3rd stage of child care, which is administered by programs contracting with the State Department of Education, begins when a funded child care space becomes available for the child or children of the eligible CalWORKs recipient. This bill would reappropriate $60,000,000 in unobligated balances appropriated in the Budget Act of 2009 to the State Department of Education for CalWORKs Stage 3 child care services. The bill would also require the State Department of Education to use those funds for families that were receiving, or would have been eligible to receive, CalWORKs Stage 3 child care services, before, on, or after October 31, 2010. The bill would declare that it makes appropriations for the usual and current expenses of the state, thereby taking immediate effect.
Existing law provides that any elected public officer who takes public office, or is reelected to public office, on or after January 1, 2006, who is convicted of any specified felony arising directly out of his or her official duties, forfeits all rights and benefits under, and membership in, any public retirement system in which he or she is a member, effective on the date of final conviction, as specified. This bill would additionally require a public officer, as defined, who is convicted of any felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, tampering with a witness, money laundering, the preparation of false documents, any felony arising directly out of his or her official duties, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes arising directly out of his or her official duties, to forfeit all rights and benefits under any public retirement system in which he or she is a member, effective on the date of conviction. The bill would require any contributions made by that public officer to the public retirement system to be returned to the public officer without interest. The bill would prohibit these provisions from being construed to abrogate the rights of an innocent spouse or dependent who was not involved in the commission of any criminal activity to pension or other benefits.