Under existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, the State Department of Social Services licenses and regulates, residential care facilities for the elderly, as defined. Violation of those provisions is a crime. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
Existing law governs the tort liability and immunity of public entities and their officers and employees, claims and actions against public entities and their officers and employees, insurance indemnification, and the defense and indemnification of public officers and employees. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to defend a public or private provider of health care, as defined, and its officers, employees, agents, and subcontractors, against any claim that the civil rights of a person in state custody were violated in the provision of health care services. Existing law provides for the indemnification of any provider of health care, and its officers, employees, agents, and subcontractors, who are defended pursuant to that provision by the Attorney General, or other legal counsel provided by the state, as specified. This bill would require the Attorney General to defend a special district, and its officers, employees, agents, and subcontractors, against any claim for damages arising from any authorized recreational use of public lands of the special district, and would require the state to indemnify a claim for damages arising therefrom, except as specified.
Under the California Constitution, whenever the Legislature or a state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on a local government, including school districts, the state is required to provide a subvention of funds to reimburse the local government, with specified exceptions. The California Constitution also provides that, with respect to a city, county, city and county, or special district, but not a school district, for the 2005–06 fiscal year and every subsequent fiscal year, for a mandate for which the costs of a local government claimant have been determined in a preceding fiscal year to be payable by the state pursuant to law, the Legislature shall either appropriate, in the annual Budget Act, the full payable amount that has not been previously paid, or suspend the operation of the mandate for the fiscal year for which the annual Budget Act is applicable in a manner prescribed by law, and that, payable claims for costs incurred prior to the 2004–05 fiscal year that have not been paid prior to the 2005–06 fiscal year may be paid over a term of years, which statutory law prescribes to be 15 years. This bill, for the 2009–10 fiscal year and every subsequent fiscal year, for a mandate for which the costs of a school district claimant have been determined in a preceding fiscal year to be payable by the state, would require the Legislature to appropriate, in the annual Budget Act, the full payable amount that has not been previously paid, or require the mandate to be suspended by operation of law for the fiscal year for which that annual Budget Act is applicable. The bill would allow payable claims for costs incurred prior to the 2007–08 fiscal year that have not been paid prior to the 2009–10 fiscal year to be paid over a term of 5 years. The bill would exempt specified school-related mandates from these provisions.
Existing law designates area agencies on aging as local units on aging in California, which are financially supported by a variety of sources, including federal funding, state and local government assistance, the private sector, and individual contributions. Existing law also provides for independent living centers, for the purpose of assisting individuals with disabilities in their attempts to live fuller and freer lives outside institutions, and achieve social and economic independence. This bill would continuously appropriate from the Federal Trust Fund, in the absence of enactment of the annual Budget Act by July 1 of a fiscal year, (1) to the California Department of Aging, the amount of federal funds contained in the Federal Trust Fund that is necessary to pay area agencies on aging for the administration of programs under their jurisdiction, and (2) to the Department of Rehabilitation, the amount of federal funds contained in the Federal Trust Fund that is necessary to pay independent living centers for the administration of programs under their jurisdiction, pending enactment of the Budget Act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Contractors' State License Law provides for the licensing and regulation of contractors by the Contractors' State License Board, and authorizes the board to institute disciplinary actions for a violation thereof. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to a provision of the Contractors' State License Law.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the commission with respect to the purchase of electricity by electrical corporations and requires the commission to review and adopt a procurement plan and a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical corporation pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The program requires that a retail seller of electricity, including electrical corporations, purchase a specified minimum percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, in any given year as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar year (renewables portfolio standard) . Existing law requires every electrical corporation to file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity generated by an electric generation facility, as defined, that is owned and operated by a retail customer of the electrical corporation. Existing law requires that the electric generation facility: (1) have an effective capacity of not more than 1.5 megawatts and be located on property owned or under the control of the customer, (2) be interconnected and operate in parallel with the electric transmission and distribution grid, (3) be strategically located and interconnected to the electric transmission system in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers, and (4) meet the definition of an eligible renewable energy resource under the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. Existing law requires that the tariff provide for payment for every kilowatthour of electricity generated by an electric generation facility at a market price referent established by the commission pursuant to the program. Existing law requires the electrical corporation to make this tariff available to customers that own and operate an electric generation facility within the service territory of the electrical corporation, upon request, on a first-come-first-served basis, until the combined statewide cumulative rated generating capacity of those electric generation facilities equals 500 megawatts, or the electrical corporation meets its proportionate share of the 500 megawatt limit based upon the ratio of its peak demand to total statewide peak demand of all electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to modify or adjust the above-described requirements for any electrical corporation with less than 100,000 service connections, as individual circumstances merit. Existing law provides that the electricity generated by an electric generation facility counts toward the electrical corporation's renewables portfolio standard and provides that the physical generating capacity counts toward meeting the electrical corporation's resource adequacy requirements. This bill would establish a solar feed-in tariff, as defined, pilot program that is applicable to the City of Palm Desert, which is within the service territory of Southern California Edison Company. 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 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 establishes the Regents of the University of California and provides for the administration of the university by the regents. Existing law authorizes the regents to meet in closed session for certain purposes, including to consider or discuss matters concerning the appointment, employment, performance, or dismissal of university officers or employees, excluding individual regents other than the president of the university. However, existing law requires that action taken by a committee of the regents, and final action by the full board of regents, on a proposal for the compensation package of specified executive officers occur in an open session of each of those bodies and include a disclosure of the compensation package and rationale for the action. This bill would require the regents, on or before July 1 of each year, to submit a report to the Legislature describing expenditures on compensation packages and retirement benefits for employees and officers of the university and identifying the sources of funds for those exepnditures. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the appropriate policy committee of the Assembly or the Senate, or both, hold a hearing each year regarding the report.
Existing law requires a person proposing to construct a thermal powerplant to obtain a certification from the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission. Existing law exempts facilities for which the Public Utilities Commission has issued a certificate of convenience and necessity or that a municipal utility has approved before January 7, 1975. This bill would additionally exempt an applicant for a nuclear fission thermal powerplant capable of producing up to 2,000 megawatts of energy that is the first California entity to obtain an early site permit from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Existing law requires that ballot labels for state measures voted on at elections contain specified information. Existing law requires the Legislative Analyst to prepare a discussion of the state's current bonded indebtedness for the ballot pamphlet at a statewide general election in which a state bond measure is submitted for voter approval. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst to include additional information in the ballot pamphlet for an election for each state initiative measure that proposes the issuance of a state bond.
Existing law requires the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services to be responsible for oversight and coordination of programs serving people living with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, and their families. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
