Asm. Julia Brownley

This measure would proclaim May 2011 as Buy California Small Business First Month.

(1) The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 prohibits a person, with exceptions, from conducting surface mining operations unless a permit is obtained from, a reclamation plan is submitted to and approved by, and financial assurances for reclamation have been approved by, the lead agency for the operation. Existing law prohibits a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for a surface mining operation for gold, silver, copper, or other metallic minerals or financial assurances for the operation if the operation is located on, or within one mile of, a Native American sacred site and is located in an area of special concern, unless certain criteria are met. This bill would also prohibit a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for an aggregate products operation if the operation is located on or within 2,000 yards of the external boundaries of an Indian reservation and is on or within 5,000 yards of a Native American sacred site, and is on or within 4,000 yards of the Santa Margarita River or an aquifer that is hydrologically connected to the river, unless the tribe whose reservation is nearest the operation consents to the operation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would proclaim July 27, 2011, as Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. It would urge Californians to remember the Korean War and those who fought against communism. It would also urge Governor Jerry Brown to proclaim July 27, 2011, as Korean War Armistice Day and instruct all state departments, agencies, interested groups, organizations, and individuals to fly the United States flag at half-mast on July 27, 2011, in memory of the veterans who died as a result of their service in Korea.

This measure would urge Congress to extend the alternative minimum tax holiday for private activity bonds.

Existing law sets forth various personal rights and provides that all persons within California have the right to be free from violence, or intimidation by the threat of violence, because of, among other characteristics, their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, or sex. Existing law further permits an individual whose exercise or enjoyment of specified personal rights has been interfered with to bring a civil action for damages, including actual damages, exemplary damages, attorney's fees, injunctive relief, and other appropriate relief. Existing law requires the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to receive, investigate, and conciliate complaints that an individual's personal rights have been violated. This bill would specify that homeless persons, as defined, are entitled to the personal rights set forth under existing law, and would provide that a homeless person has the right to be free from violence or intimidation by threat of violence directed against that person on the basis of that person's status as a homeless person. The bill would also provide that these provisions shall not be construed to enlarge or diminish an existing duty, if any, by an owner of residential rental or commercial property to protect a homeless person who is present on the property from violence or intimidation by threats of violence. The bill would provide that these provisions are not to be construed to prohibit or restrict a public agency from the lawful enforcement of any law, and a public agency would not be subject to civil liability for that lawful enforcement.

This measure would memorialize the Legislature's support for the school-based health center program authorized by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, an appropriation by the United States Congress to fund this program, policies that include school-based health centers as a partner in creating a medical home for all children, and the inclusion of school-based health centers in the reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Existing law requires that a person, 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 enact the California Dream Act of 2011. This bill would provide that, on and after January 1, 2012, a student attending the California State University, the California Community Colleges, or the University of California who is exempt from paying nonresident tuition under the provision described above would be eligible to receive a scholarship derived from nonstate funds received, for the purpose of scholarships, by the segment at which he or she is a student. 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. This bill would find and declare that the amendments to the Donahoe Higher Education Act described above are state laws within the meaning of a specified federal provision.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which provides a defined benefit to its members based on age at retirement, service credit, and final compensation. PERL authorizes the Board of Administrator of PERS during the course of an audit, to require each state agency, school employer, and contracting agency, to provide information or make available for examination or copying at a specified time and place, or both, books, papers, any data, or records, as deemed necessary by the board to determine the correctness of retirement benefits, reportable compensation, enrollment in, and reinstatement to, this system. The Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act also authorizes the board or an authorized representative to perform audits of each employer and to require the employer to provide information or make available for examination and copying books, papers, data, and records, as specified. This bill would require the board to notify the subject of an audit, before initiating the audit, of the estimated time required to complete the audit. The bill would specify factors upon which the estimate would be based. The bill would authorize the board to assess a reasonable charge upon the employer to recover additional costs incurred for the excess time to complete the audit if an audit requires an excess of the time estimated, except that a contracting agency would not be assessed for delays during the course of an audit that are reasonably outside of the agency's control.

Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California. Existing law requires the board to take action against any licensee who is charged with unprofessional conduct and describes acts constituting unprofessional conduct. Existing law makes a violation of that provision a crime. This bill would provide that unprofessional conduct also includes the repeated failure, except for good cause, by a certificate holder who is the subject of a board investigation, to attend and participate in an interview scheduled by the mutual agreement of the certificate holder and the board. By changing the definition of 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.