The California Constitution constitutes the University of California as a public trust to be administered by the Regents of the University of California with full powers of organization and government, subject only to specified legislative control. Existing law requires the meetings of the regents to be public with exceptions and notice requirements as may be provided by statute. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that any proposal relating to the salary, benefits, perquisites, severance payments, as specified, or retirement benefits, or any other form of compensation paid to an officer of the University of California shall not become effective unless notice of the meeting at which the proposal is to be considered has been given to each regent and information and materials regarding the proposal, including a full disclosure of the fiscal impact, have been made available to each regent in advance. This measure would prohibit any employee of the University of California who receives any financial benefit with a value in excess of $50,000 as part of a temporary voluntary separation program, as defined, from the University of California from thereafter being employed by, or contracting for personal services with, the university, in any compensated capacity, unless the person returns the entire financial benefit.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires the annual budget submitted by the Governor to contain, among other things, statements of accounts payable and cashflow for the preceding, current, and succeeding fiscal years. This bill would require the Governor's annual budget to contain certain information regarding General Fund obligations and liabilities and would require the Governor, at the time of the May Revision, to submit his or her recommendations for potential methods of retiring those obligations and liabilities identified in the budget.
(1) Existing law provides that a person may pass real property to a beneficiary at death by various methods including by will, intestate succession, trust, and titling the property in joint tenancy, among others. This bill would, until January 1, 2015, create the revocable transfer on death deed (revocable TOD deed) , as defined, which would transfer real property on the death of its owner without a probate proceeding. The bill would require that a person have testamentary capacity to make or revoke the deed and would require that the deed be in a statutory form provided for this purpose. The revocable TOD deed must be signed, dated, acknowledged, and recorded, as specified, to be effective. The bill would provide, among other things, that the deed, during the owner's life, does not affect his or her ownership rights and, specifically, is part of the owner's estate for the purpose of Medi-Cal eligibility and reimbursement. The bill would void a revocable TOD deed if, at the time of the owner's death, the property is titled in joint tenancy or as community property with right of survivorship. The bill would establish priorities for creditor claims against the owner and the beneficiary of the deed in connection with the property transferred and limits on the liability of the beneficiary. The bill would establish a process for contesting the transfer of real property by a revocable TOD deed. The bill would also make conforming and technical changes. The bill would require the California Law Revision Commission to study and make recommendations regarding the revocable TOD deed to the Legislature by January 1, 2014. (2) Existing law provides that a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent is not entitled to specified property, interests, or benefits, including any gifts of personal property made in view of impending death. This bill would specify that a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent is not entitled generally to property and interests that are transferred outside of probate, including real property transferred by a revocable TOD deed. (3) Existing law establishes simplified procedures for dealing with a decedent's estate valued under $100,000, including authorizing the successor of the decedent to collect and distribute property due the decedent without letters of administration or awaiting probate of a will. Existing law provides that a beneficiary who receives real or personal property under these circumstances, as specified, may be liable to the estate if probate proceedings are subsequently commenced. Existing law provides, in this context, that a spouse has liability for the debts of a deceased spouse if the decedent's property is in the control of the surviving spouse. Existing law permits a court judgment to enforce liability in these instances only to the extent necessary to protect the heirs, devisees, and creditors of the decedent. This bill would delete the reference to court judgment and provide instead that the personal representative of the estate is permitted to enforce liability only to the extent necessary to protect the heirs, devisees, and creditors of the decedent.
Existing law provides that no handgun ammunition vendor, as defined, shall sell, offer for sale, or display for sale, any handgun ammunition in a manner that allows that ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser without the assistance of the vendor or employee thereof. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law requires, subject to exceptions, commencing February 1, 2011, that handgun ammunition vendors obtain a thumbprint and other information from ammunition purchasers, as specified. Existing law provides, subject to exceptions, that commencing February 1, 2011, the delivery or transfer of ownership of handgun ammunition may only occur in a face-to-face transaction, with the deliverer or transferor being provided bona fide evidence of identity of the purchaser or other transferee. Violations of any of the above provisions are misdemeanors, some with specified penalties. This bill would repeal those provisions.
Existing law, generally, imposes a minimum franchise tax of $800, except as provided, on every corporation incorporated in this state, qualified to transact intrastate business in this state, or doing business in this state, and on every limited partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited liability company registered, qualified to transact business, or doing business in this state, as specified. This bill would, for the first 10 taxable years of a corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited liability company that is a small business, as defined, and that first commences business operations on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2016, reduce that minimum tax, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The State Assistance for Fire Equipment Act authorizes the Secretary of Emergency Management to acquire specified firefighting apparatus and equipment for resale to a local agency, as defined, that provides fire suppression services or a fire company. Existing law also establishes the State Assistance for Fire Equipment Account, a continuously appropriated fund, for purposes of the act. Existing law requires the secretary to consult with a specified committee before adopting regulations implementing the act. This bill would annually appropriate $45,600,000 of revenue received by the state from the accessing of oil and gas reserves located beneath state coastal waters, generally known as the "T-Ridge Project," for firefighting purposes, including, but not limited to, the purchase of firefighting and rescue vehicles and equipment, vegetation management and defensible space projects, and specified training courses and materials, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would also require the secretary to consult with additional specified individuals involved in firefighting before adopting certain regulations.
The California Constitution requires that any debt or debts, or liability or liabilities, created by the Legislature which shall, singly or in the aggregate with any previous debts or liabilities, exceed the sum of $300,000, with specified exceptions, be authorized by law for some single object or work to be distinctly specified therein, subject to specified conditions, including approval by the voters. This measure would provide that debt subject to the above-stated requirements that is approved by the voters after this measure becomes effective could be incurred to fund only long-term infrastructure. This measure would define long-term infrastructure as the acquisition of land, including easements, rights-of-way, and other forms of interest in land; the construction or acquisition of improvements to land, including structures and equipment integral to the operation of those structures; and the construction or acquisition of roadways and water conveyances.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, in the amount of $3,000 for each full-time employee hired by a qualified employer. Those laws define "qualified employer" as a taxpayer that employed 20 or fewer employees as of the last day of the preceding taxable year. This bill would, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, expand the definition of "qualified employer" to mean a taxpayer that employed 50 or fewer employees as of the last day of the preceding taxable year. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Charter Schools Act of 1992 authorizes the governing board of a school district to grant a petition to establish a charter school. The act authorizes a county board of education to grant a charter petition upon the denial of the petition by a school district and authorizes a county board to grant a petition to establish a countywide charter school. The act authorizes the State Board of Education to grant a charter petition upon the denial of the petition by a school district and a county board and authorizes the state board to grant a petition to establish a statewide charter school. This bill would authorize the governing board of a community college district to grant a petition to establish a charter school within a school district in which the community college district maintains a campus. The bill also would require the governing board of a community college district to assume all of the duties, responsibilities, functions, and obligations that the governing board of a school district assumes when it grants a charter, as specified. The bill would provide that a petition is eligible for consideration by the governing board of a community college district if the petitioner's intent is to provide an innovative approach that maximizes the educational opportunities available to secondary school pupils and encourages a partnership between a charter school and the community college district, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Education, by January 1, 2014, to prepare an analysis of the efficacy of community college districts authorizing petitions for charter schools and provide the analysis to the state board, the Governor, the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and the Senate and Assembly Committees on Education.
Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing and makes a violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires a licensee renewing his or her license to submit proof to the board that during a specified time the licensee has been informed of developments in the registered nursing field either by pursuing a continuing education course offered by a provider approved by the board or by other means deemed equivalent by the board. Existing law requires the board to establish, by regulation, standards for continuing education. Existing law requires these standards to make a variety of alternative forms of continuing education available to licensees. Existing law requires the content of all courses of continuing education to be relevant to the practice of nursing. This bill would provide that continuing education courses, as specified, that advance or promote labor organizing on behalf of a union, or that advance or promote statutory or regulatory changes, political candidates, political advocacy, or political strategy shall not be considered content relevant to the practice of nursing and shall not be acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal. The bill would also prohibit an approved provider from representing that such a continuing education course is acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal and would require the board, subject to specified procedural requirements, to withdraw its approval of a provider that violates that requirement for no less than 5 years, as specified. Because a violation of these requirements by a provider would constitute 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.