(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. This bill would create the Solar Feed-in Tariff Pilot Program. The bill would require Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas and Electric Company, to enter into agreements to purchase all of the electricity generated by the owner or operator of a solar energy generation facility located within the territory served by that electrical corporation at specified prices using a contract developed by the commission, as provided. This program would be limited to the City of Santa Monica and other pilot cities to be selected by the commission. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order or direction of the commission is a crime. Because this bill would require an order or other action of the commission to implement its provisions and a violation of that order or action would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The bill would also create a state-mandated local program by imposing duties on the City of Santa Monica. (2) 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.
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Existing law appropriates the sum of $402,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the 2009–10 fiscal year to be allocated to schoolsites selected to participate in the Quality Education Investment Act program, as specified. Existing law requires the Superintendent, for each school district and chartering authority receiving an allocation pursuant to these provisions, to reduce its revenue limit or its general purpose entitlement, as specified, for the 2009–10 school year by the amount of the allocation received pursuant to these provisions. This bill would condition this reduction upon certification by the Superintendent that an equivalent amount of additional federal or state funds that may be used by a school district or chartering authority for revenue limit or general purpose uses have been made available to the school district or chartering authority. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Director of Finance to report to the Legislature by March 1, 2010, the amount of the reductions specified in the bill that will not be eligible for restoration with available federal funding. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to use $64,872,000 in federal funds, as specified, in combination with other available funds, for the purpose of awarding grants to local educational agencies that participate in the Quality Education Investment Act Program in the 2009–10 fiscal year, thereby making an appropriation.
Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling them to remain in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Existing law permits services to be provided under the IHSS program either through the employment of individual providers, a contract between the county and an entity for the provision of services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. Under existing law, IHSS recipients who are eligible for the Medi-Cal program are provided with personal care option services, as defined, in lieu of receiving these services under the IHSS program. Existing law, enacted in 2009, makes various statutory changes with respect to the provision of in-home supportive services, relating to matters, including, but not limited to, provider enrollment procedures, criminal background checks, orientation, and duties, as well as eligibility standards for recipients, unannounced home visits, and program integrity and fraud prevention. This bill would make the operation of the statutory changes described above subject to a stakeholder process, to be conducted, as specified, by the State Department of Social Services, prior to the implementation of those changes. The bill would require implementation of any of the statutory changes described in the bill to occur either on the date specified in an applicable statute, or 60 days after the department notifies the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that the changes may be implemented, whichever is later. This bill would prohibit information notices relating to the implementation of these statutory changes from being sent to recipients or providers until the stakeholder process is completed. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish an advisory committee to advise on all appropriate matters relative to the creation of the Academic Performance Index and the implementation of the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program and the High Achieving/Improving Schools Program. Existing law requires the committee to make recommendations to the Superintendent, by July 1, 2005, on the appropriateness and feasibility of a methodology for generating a measurement of academic performance by using unique pupil identifiers and annual academic achievement growth to provide a more accurate measure of a school's growth over time. This bill would require the advisory committee, by July 1, 2010, to make recommendations to the Superintendent regarding the inclusion of the results of the English language development test or series of tests developed or acquired pursuant to a specified provision and the feasibility of including English learner proficiency as part of the Academic Performance Index (API) . The bill would require the Superintendent, with the approval of the state board, to include the results of the English language development test or series of tests developed or acquired pursuant to a specified provision and English language proficiency levels and growth of those levels in the API.
Existing law establishes the offense of human trafficking. Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to implement a course or courses of instruction for the training of law enforcement officers in California in the handling of human trafficking complaints and to develop guidelines for law enforcement response to human trafficking, as specified. This bill would additionally require the commission, upon the next regularly scheduled review of a training module relating to human trafficking, to create and make available training content on the U Visa, as specified.
(1) Existing law establishes the public school system in this state, and, among other things, provides for the establishment of school districts throughout the state and for their provision of instruction at the public elementary and secondary schools they operate and maintain. Existing law establishes a public school funding system that includes, among other elements, the provision of funding to local educational agencies through state apportionments, the proceeds of property taxes collected at the local level, and other sources. This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature with respect to the school funding system in the state. The bill would require the Director of Finance and the Legislative Analyst to convene a working group to make findings and recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor on or before December 1, 2010, regarding restructuring California's school finance system. The bill would require those findings and recommendations to include, among other things, alternative structures for funding public schools, the policy and fiscal implications of the alternative funding structure or structures, and an evaluation mechanism to facilitate continuous improvement, maximum transparency, and accountability of the funding structures. (2) Existing law provides that the revenue limit for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District for the 1996–97 fiscal year, and future fiscal years, shall not include specified funds allocated to that district the receipt of which were delayed due to bankruptcy filed by the County of Orange. This bill would provide that these provisions would remain in effect only until July 1, 2010.
Existing law, the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights, authorizes a law enforcement agency investigating certain felony sex offenses, upon the request of the victim, and subject to the commitment of resources, to inform the victim whether or not a DNA profile was obtained from the testing of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from the case, whether or not that information has been entered into the Department of Justice Data Bank of case evidence, and whether or not there is a match between the DNA profile developed from the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence and a DNA profile contained in the Department of Justice Convicted Offender DNA Data Base, as specified. Existing law also requires that the victim be given written notification by the law enforcement agency if the law enforcement agency elects not to perform DNA testing of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence, or intends to destroy or dispose of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, as specified. Existing law provides that the sole civil or criminal remedy available to a sexual assault victim for a law enforcement agency's failure to fulfill its responsibilities under the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights is standing to file a writ of mandamus to require compliance with these notification provisions. This bill would require local law enforcement agencies responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to annually report to the Department of Justice statistical information pertaining to the processing of rape kits, as specified. The reports received would be subject to inspection under the California Public Records Act. These provisions would become inoperative on July 1, 2015, and would be repealed on January 1, 2016. By imposing additional reporting duties on local law enforcement agencies, 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, 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.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, energy conservation and water efficiency standards for new residential and nonresidential buildings to reduce wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption of energy. The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission for approval or adoption. Existing law requires the commission to adopt, approve, codify, update, and publish green building standards for any occupancy for which no state agency has the authority or expertise to propose those standards. This bill would require the commission or any state agency proposing green building standards to seek the input of other state agencies and consult with representatives from specified groups, as prescribed. The bill would require any agency providing input to recommend to the commission or proposing agency whether the standard should be voluntary or mandatory. The bill would also authorize the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to develop and adopt voluntary energy efficiency standards, as described.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene Act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of that act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, health care service plans and health insurers are required to offer specified types of coverage as part of their health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies. Existing law imposes specified requirements upon a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides maternity coverage. This bill would require specified health care service plans and health insurers to include coverage for lactation consultation and the provision or rental of specified types of breast pumps, as defined, as part of their health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies that provide maternity coverage. Because this bill would specify additional requirements under the Knox-Keene Act, the willful violation of which would be a crime, it 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 authorizes the State Personnel Board to prescribe rules governing the temporary assignment or loan of employees within an agency or between agencies or between jurisdictions for specified time limits, for the purpose of providing training to employees, enabling an agency to obtain expertise needed to meet a compelling program or management need, or facilitating the return of injured employees to work. This bill would provide that a temporary assignment or loan shall not exceed 4 years, as specified. Existing law also requires a temporary assignment or loan between educational agencies or jurisdictions to be extended for up to 2 additional years upon a finding that the extension is necessary to substantially complete work on an educational improvement project. This bill would delete that provision and would instead prohibit a temporary assignment or loan between educational agencies or jurisdictions from exceeding 4 years of total time per individual performing the duties of a represented classification in any combination of assignments or loans.