Asm. Chris Holden

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age. Existing law requires the Superintendent to administer all California state preschool programs, including, but not limited to, part-day and full-day age and developmentally appropriate programs for 3- and 4-year-old children. This bill would, until January 1, 2021, authorize the department, as part of a pilot program, to accept monetary contributions made to the California Preschool Investment Fund, which this bill would create, by a person for purposes of preschool education, as provided. The bill would require the money in the fund to be used to, among other things, fund state preschools part of the California state preschool program located in one of the 5 counties participating in the pilot program, as provided. The bill would require participating counties to report to the department's Early Education & Support Division regarding the county's assessment of how the pilot program is performing. The bill would require any moneys remaining in the fund after January 1, 2021, to be transferred to any other state fund identified by the department that provides funding for increased access to preschool programs for low-income children. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, and before January 1, 2020, would allow a credit equal to 40% of the amount contributed by the taxpayer during the taxable year to the California Preschool Investment Fund, as provided. The bill would limit the aggregate amount of credit allowed under both laws to not exceed $250,000,000 and would require the State Department of Education to establish a procedure for a person to obtain from the department a receipt indicating specified information, including the amount of monetary contributions made, for purposes of the tax credits allowed under these provisions. This bill would, until January 1, 2021, require the total annual amount of credits claimed pursuant to these provisions to be treated as though they were proceeds of taxes for purposes of calculating the moneys to be applied by the state for the support of school districts and community college districts pursuant to a specified provision of the California Constitution.

Existing law contains legislative findings and declarations stating that advanced placement courses, among other things, help to improve the overall curriculum at schools where they are provided and provide a cost-effective means for high school pupils to obtain college-level coursework experience. This bill would establish the Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program, to be administered by the State Department of Education, for purposes of awarding grants of up to $8,000 to eligible school districts to cover the costs of establishing or expanding a high school advanced placement STEM curriculum, as defined. The bill would specify that the program is to be implemented only if moneys are made available to the department from state and nonstate funding sources for purposes of the program. The bill would establish the Advanced Placement STEM Access Grant Program Account within the State Treasury for purposes of awarding grants pursuant to the program. The bill's provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2022.

This measure would declare June 6, 2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week and would urge all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues and to take action to prevent their spread.

This measure would commemorate the centennial of the founding of Locke, California, would recognize and honor Locke, California, as the last remaining Chinatown in North America, and would urge all Californians to learn about the important history of Locke, California, and its inhabitants.

This measure would congratulate the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls on the celebration of its 50th anniversary, and recognize and commend the commission for its various contributions and accomplishments.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support H.R. 167, the federal Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, in order to provide a long-term, stable source of funding for federal agencies to conduct the necessary fuels management on national forest lands, while retaining resources to suppress catastrophic wildfires.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact legislation allowing immigrants to serve in the military if they are eligible under the President's Executive Order for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Executive Order for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents.

Existing law regulates various aspects of the workplace and employee safety and health. This bill, upon a change in control of a grocery establishment, would require an incumbent grocery employer to prepare a list of specified eligible grocery workers for a successor grocery employer, and would require the successor grocery employer to hire from this list during a 90-day transition period. The bill would require the successor grocery employer to retain eligible grocery workers for a 90-day period, prohibit the successor grocery employer from discharging those workers without cause during that period, and, upon the close of that period, require the successor grocery employer to consider offering continued employment to those workers. The bill would exempt a grocery establishment located in a food desert from the bill's requirements, as provided. The bill would provide that a collective bargaining agreement may supersede these requirements and that these provisions do not preempt any local ordinances that provide equal or greater protection to eligible grocery workers. This bill would provide that its provisions are severable.

Existing law requires buy-here-pay-here dealers, as defined, to provide buyers with specific warranties, disclosures, and services. Existing law prohibits a buy-here-pay-here dealer from locating a vehicle with electronic tracking technology or disabling a vehicle with starter interrupt technology unless the dealer provides written disclosure to the buyer at the time the vehicle is purchased that the vehicle is equipped with starter interrupt technology and that disclosure informs the buyer that a warning will be provided no less than 48 hours before the use of the starter interrupt technology to shut down the vehicle remotely, as specified. Existing law provides that in the event of an emergency the buyer will be provided with the ability to start a dealer-disabled vehicle for no less than 24 hours after the vehicle's initial disablement. Existing law makes a violation of this prohibition a misdemeanor punishable as a fine not exceeding $1,000. This bill would instead require the written disclosure provided to the buyer at the time of sale to inform the buyer that a warning will be provided 5 days before the use of the starter interrupt technology for all weekly payment term contracts and 10 days before the use of starter interrupt technology on all other contracts and a final warning will be provided no less than 48 hours before the use of the starter interrupt technology to shut down the vehicle remotely, as specified. The bill would require the written disclosure provided to the buyer at the time of sale to inform the buyer that in the event of an emergency he or she will be provided with the ability to start a dealer-disabled vehicle for no less than 24 hours after the vehicle's initial disablement. The bill would also increase the maximum fine amount from $1,000 to $2,000. By expanding the scope of a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.