(1) The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth, among other things, the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, and their respective institutions of higher education. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, act to make a provision applicable. Existing law requires that a student, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as defined, who has attended high school in California for 3 or more years, who has graduated from a California high school or attained the equivalent thereof, who has registered at or attends an accredited institution of higher education in California not earlier than the fall semester or quarter of the 2001–02 academic year, and who, if he or she is an alien without lawful immigration status, has filed a prescribed affidavit is exempt from paying nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State University. This bill would amend the Donahoe Higher Education Act, as of January 1, 2013, to require the Trustees of the California State University and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and to request the regents, to establish procedures and forms that enable students who are exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the above-described provision, or who meet equivalent requirements adopted by the regents, to apply for, and participate in, all student aid programs administered by these segments to the full extent permitted by federal law, except as provided. This provision would apply to the University of California only if the regents, by appropriate resolution, act to make it applicable. This bill would provide that students who are exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the above provision, or who meet equivalent requirements adopted by the regents, are eligible to apply for, and participate in, any student financial aid program administered by the State of California to the full extent permitted by federal law. This bill would require the Student Aid Commission to establish procedures and forms that enable those students who are exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the above provision to apply for, and participate in, all student financial aid programs administered by the State of California to the full extent permitted by federal law. This bill would prohibit students who are exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the provision described above from being eligible for Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards unless specified conditions are met. The bill would make these provisions operative as of January 1, 2013. (2) Existing federal law requires that a state may provide that an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States is eligible for any state or local public benefit for which that alien would otherwise be ineligible under a specified federal law only through enactment of a state law that affirmatively provides for that eligibility. This bill would find and declare that the amendments to the Donahoe Higher Education Act described above are state laws within the meaning of this federal provision. (3) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes the establishment of community college districts under the administration of community college governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction, for prescribed fees, at community college campuses throughout the state. Existing law authorizes the waiver of these fees for, among others, students who are eligible under income standards established by the board of governors. This bill, as of January 1, 2013, would require community college districts to waive the fees of students who are exempt from nonresident tuition under the provision described in (1) above, and who otherwise qualify for a waiver under this provision, under regulations and procedures adopted by the board of governors. Because the bill would impose new duties on community college districts with respect to determining eligibility for fee waivers, the bill would constitute 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, 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.
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Existing law provides that the county boards of supervisors may establish and maintain, within their respective counties, county free libraries pursuant to specified provisions of law. Existing law provides that the board of trustees, common council, or other legislative body of any city or the board of trustees of any library district may, on or before January 1 of any year, notify the county board of supervisors that the city or library district no longer desires to be a part of the county free library system, as specified. This bill would impose specified requirements if the board of trustees, common council, or other legislative body of a city or the board of trustees of a library district intends to withdraw from the county free library system and operate the city's or library district's library or libraries with a private contractor that will employ library staff to achieve cost savings, unless the library or libraries are funded only by the proceeds of a special tax imposed by the city or library district. These requirements, until January 1, 2019, would include, but not be limited to, publishing notice of the contemplated action in a specified manner, clearly demonstrating that the contract will result in actual overall cost savings to the city or library district for the duration of the entire contract, as specified, prohibiting the contract from causing existing city or library district employees to incur a loss of employment or specified benefits or an involuntary transfer, and imposing specified requirements on contracts for library services in excess of $100,000 annually. The bill would also provide that its provisions do not preclude a city, library district, or local government from adopting more restrictive rules regarding the contracting of public services, and would prohibit its provisions from applying to contracts between a city or library district and a nonprofit organization if specified requirements are met.
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. Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services and the California Health and Human Services Agency Data Center to design, implement, and maintain a statewide fingerprint imaging system for use in connection with the determination of eligibility for benefits under the CalWORKs program, excluding the Aid to Families with Dependent Children‑Foster Care program, and CalFresh. Existing law, with specified exceptions, requires applicants for, and recipients of, CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits, as a condition of eligibility, to be fingerprint imaged, pursuant to the statewide fingerprint imaging system. This bill would remove the requirement that applicants for, and recipients of, CalFresh benefits, as a condition of eligibility, be fingerprint imaged and would make related conforming changes. Under existing law, the county is required to annually redetermine eligibility for CalWORKs benefits. Existing law additionally requires the county to redetermine recipient eligibility and grant amounts on a quarterly basis, using prospective budgeting, and to prospectively determine the grant amount that a recipient is entitled to receive for each month of the quarterly reporting period. Under existing law, a CalWORKs recipient is required to report to the county, orally or in writing, specified changes that could affect the amount of aid to which the recipient is entitled. Under existing law, the CalWORKs quarterly reporting system is also implemented by the State Department of Social Services in administering SNAP. This bill would make inoperative October 1, 2013, and repeal January 1, 2014, the requirements relating to quarterly reporting and prospective determination grant amounts, and would, instead, impose similar requirements for a semiannual reporting period, operative April 1, 2013, to be implemented no later than October 1, 2013. This bill would require each county to transition recipients to a semiannual reporting system simultaneously and require each county to provide a certificate to the Director of Social Services certifying that semiannual reporting has been implemented in the county. The bill would also require the department to establish an income reporting threshold for CalWORKs recipients, as specified. The bill would make various related conforming changes, including revising provisions relating to the collection of CalWORKs grant overpayments. The bill would authorize counties to adopt staggered semiannual reporting requirements, as specified. This bill would prohibit administrative savings associated with the implementation of semiannual reporting from exceeding the amount necessary to fund the net General Fund costs of the semiannual reporting, and would authorize the reflection of possible additional savings in excess of this amount only to the extent that they are based on actual savings, as prescribed. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions through all-county letters until the adoption of implementing regulations, as prescribed. Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to receive and administer the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program block grant. This bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, require the State Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the Department of Community Services and Development, to design, implement by January 1, 2013, and maintain a utility assistance initiative. Under the bill, the State Department of Social Services would be required to grant applicants and recipients of CalFresh benefits a nominal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) service benefit, as specified, out of the federal LIHEAP block grant and any funds allocated for this purpose not expended and reinvested into the program, as prescribed. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would, instead, provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. To the extent that the bill would expand eligibility for CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits, the bill would create 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, 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.
(1) Existing law establishes the scope of functions and responsibilities of the State Department of Public Health. This bill would additionally require the State Department of Public Health to investigate and apply for federal funding opportunities regarding promoting healthy eating and preventing obesity, as specified, and, upon receipt of that funding, allow the department to award grants and provide in-kind support to support local assistance to local governments, nonprofit organizations, and local education agencies that encourage specified healthy eating programs, as provided. (2) Existing federal law, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, is administered by the State Department of Social Services to provide agricultural commodities to eligible households and recipient agencies for distribution, as prescribed. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, on and after January 1, 2012, to establish and administer the State Emergency Food Assistance Program (SEFAP) , to provide emergency food and funding for the provision of emergency food to food banks, as provided. This bill would create the State Emergency Food Assistance Program Account and would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, allocate the moneys in the account to SEFAP and require that those moneys be used for the purchase, storage, and transportation of food grown or produced in California, as prescribed, and for the department's administrative costs. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, and before January 1, 2017, allow, without regard to the taxpayer's method of accounting, a credit for qualified taxpayers, as defined, in an amount equal to 10% of the cost that would otherwise be included in inventory costs, as specified, with respect to the donation of fresh fruits or fresh vegetables to food banks located in California.
Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture, headed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. This bill would, until July 1, 2017, create the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative. It would require, by July 1, 2012, the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to prepare recommendations, to be presented upon request to the Legislature, regarding actions that need to be taken to promote food access in the state. The bill would establish the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative Council and would require the council to implement the initiative, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish an advisory group, as specified. The bill would create the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative Fund in the State Treasury, to be comprised of federal, state, philanthropic, and private funds, for the purpose of expanding access to healthy foods in underserved communities and, to the extent practicable, to leverage other funding, as specified. Moneys in the fund would be expended upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh (formerly the Food Stamp program) , under which nutrition assistance benefits formerly referred to as food stamps, allocated to the state by the federal government, are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services administers CalFresh at the state level, and has certain specified duties in that regard. This bill, commencing July 1, 2012, would require the State Department of Social Services, to the extent permitted by federal law or other specified federal authority, to allow counties that satisfy certain criteria to simplify enrollment into CalFresh for potentially eligible low-income social security benefit recipients, utilizing existing information maintained by the Social Security Administration regarding these recipients. The bill would specify the department's duties in support of the enrollment efforts described in the bill.
(1) Existing law authorizes school districts to release pupil directory information, as specified, and defines directory information as one or more prescribed items, including, among others, a pupil's name, address, telephone number, and date and place of birth. This bill would redefine directory information to no longer include a pupil's place of birth and to also include a pupil's e-mail address. (2) Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to pupil records to a person without written parental consent or under judicial order, except to specified persons under certain circumstances, including to a probation officer or district attorney for the purposes of conducting a criminal investigation, or an investigation in regards to declaring a person a ward of the court or involving a violation of a condition of probation. This bill would additionally allow school districts to permit a counsel of record for a minor to access pupil records for the same purposes stated above. The bill would also require a probation officer, district attorney, and counsel of record for a minor to be deemed to be local officials for purposes of specified federal law, and would require pupil records obtained pursuant to the above provision to be subject to specified evidentiary rules. (3) Existing law requires the recipient of pupil records to be notified of the prohibition against transmitting the information to others without the written consent of the parent. This bill would require officials and authorities receiving pupil records pursuant to specified law to certify in writing to the school district that the information shall not be disclosed to another party, except as provided under specified federal law and state law, without the prior written consent of the parent of the pupil or the person identified as the holder of the pupil's educational rights. The bill would also authorize a local educational agency or other person or party to release pupil records or information to specified persons or parties not otherwise permitted access if the records or information are deidentified, as specified. (4) This bill would also make various technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to oversee administration of the state's universal service programs, including the deaf and disabled programs. The existing deaf and disabled universal service program, among other things, requires the commission to design and implement a program to provide a telecommunications device capable of serving the needs of individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired, together with a single party line, at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate, to any subscriber who is certified as an individual who is deaf or hearing impaired. This bill would require the commission to expand the program to include assistance to individuals with speech disabilities, including assistance to purchase speech-generating devices, accessories, and mounting systems, and specialized telecommunications equipment. The bill would require the commission to design and implement a program to provide access to a speech-generating device to any subscriber who is certified as having a speech disability at no charge additional to the basic exchange rate. The bill would require the commission to adopt rules to implement the program by January 1, 2014. The bill would require the commission to evaluate options for controlling the program costs of providing speech-generating devices, and include information on any barriers to participation in the program by eligible subscribers, as part of an existing report to the Legislature. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the bill would require the commission to adopt rules, the violation of which would be a crime, the 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires every person who manufactures an optical disc, as defined, for commercial purposes to permanently mark the manufactured optical disc with an identification mark or a unique identifying code, as specified. Existing law sets forth various definitions for purposes of these provisions. Existing law makes a manufacturer that violates these provisions guilty of a crime punishable by specified fines. Existing law also makes a person that engages in specified prohibited acts in violation of these provisions guilty of a crime punishable by specified fines or imprisonment. This bill would recast the definitions applicable to these provisions. The bill would prohibit a person who manufactures optical discs for commercial purposes from possessing, owning, controlling, or operating manufacturing equipment or any optical disc mold unless it has been adapted to apply the appropriate identification mark or unique identifying code. The bill would prohibit a person who manufactures optical discs for commercial purposes from making, possessing, or adapting any optical disc mold for the purpose of applying a forged, false, or deceptive identification mark or identifying code. The bill would authorize law enforcement officers to perform inspections, as specified, at commercial optical disc manufacturing facilities during regular business hours without a warrant for the purpose of verifying compliance with these provisions and would authorize law enforcement officers, in performing these investigations, to seize any optical disc or production part manufactured in violation of these provisions. The bill would require a person manufacturing optical discs for commercial purposes to maintain specified records. The bill would also increase the fines applicable to a manufacturer or person that violates the provisions regulating manufactured optical discs. Because a violation of the bill's provisions by a person who manufactures optical discs would be a crime, the 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires the California State University and each community college district, and requests the University of California, with respect to each campus in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority for registration for enrollment to any member or former member of the Armed Forces of the United States, as defined, for any academic term attended at one of these institutions within 2 years of leaving active duty. This bill would grant priority enrollment to these members or former members of the Armed Forces of the United States, who are residents of California, within 4 years of leaving active duty. Because the bill would impose additional duties on community college districts, the 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, 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.