(1) Existing law generally requires secondhand dealers and coin dealers, as defined, to report specified transactions involving tangible personal property, on forms provided or approved by the Department of Justice, to the local law enforcement agency where their businesses are located. Existing law defines "tangible personal property" for these purposes, and excludes from that definition, among other items, commercial grade ingots defined to include, among other items, 0.99 fine ingots of gold, silver, or platinum. This bill would revise the definition of commercial grade ingots to include 0.99 fine or finer ingots of gold, silver, palladium, or platinum. Under existing law, secondhand dealers and coin dealers are required to report the information described above using an electronic reporting system 12 months after the Department of Justice develops that system. This bill would eliminate the electronic filing requirements for coin dealers, and would instead require that secondhand dealers report this information using the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system on and after the date that the system is implemented, as specified. (2) Existing law requires a local law enforcement agency to issue a license to engage in the business of a secondhand dealer or pawnbroker to an applicant who meets designated criteria. Existing law authorizes the local licensing authority and the Department of Justice to charge an initial licensure fee and a renewal fee, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Justice to charge a licensure fee and a renewal fee of no more than $300, as specified. The bill would also require licensees issued a license before the effective date of this bill to pay an additional fee of no more than $288 for the purpose of funding the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system, with payment due within 120 days of the enactment of this bill. The bill would require that the fees assessed by the department be deposited in the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury. The bill would require that the money in the fund be used by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of paying for specified regulatory costs, including the cost of implementing, operating, and maintaining the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system. The bill would also require applicants for a license to submit fingerprint images relative to a required criminal background check, with associated fee revenue to be deposited in the Fingerprint Fee Account, and would make those revenues available to the Department of Justice, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for these purposes. This bill would make findings and declarations of the Legislature, and state the intent of the Legislature, with regard to these matters. The bill would make other related conforming changes. The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
This measure would recognize National Flag Day on June 14, 2012, honor the 52nd anniversary of the flying of the current American flag, and encourage all Californians to celebrate the occasion with appropriate activities.
Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for administering various programs and services for the benefit of veterans. This bill would establish the California Veterans Services and Workforce Development Division within the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of coordinating and administering veterans assistance programs in the state, and would require the division to perform various functions and duties relating to the coordination and administration of veterans assistance programs, as specified. The bill would require the administrative and support staff responsible for the administration of the specified programs to be transferred from the Employment Development Department to the division, and would require the costs of the transfer to utilize existing resources of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Existing law requires every peace officer, as defined, to satisfactorily complete an introductory course of training prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, demonstrated by passage of an appropriate examination developed or approved by the commission, prior to exercising the powers of a peace officer. Existing law authorizes the commission to evaluate and approve pertinent training previously completed by any jurisdiction's law enforcement officers as meeting current training requirements. This bill would authorize the commission to evaluate pertinent military police officer training previously completed by any jurisdiction's law enforcement officers for the purpose of determining whether the training meets the current training requirements prescribed by the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to develop a protocol that considers previous military police officer training as an applicable substitute for portions of the current standard training.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Fish and Game to enter into contracts for fish and wildlife habitat preservation, restoration, and enhancement with public and private entities whenever the department finds that the contracts will assist in meeting the department's duty to preserve, protect, and restore fish and wildlife. The Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947 specifically authorizes the Wildlife Conservation Board to authorize the Department of Fish and Game to acquire real property, including easements, for the benefit of wildlife. This bill would require the department to allow compatible hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities, on land subject to a wildlife conservation easement or a fish and wildlife habitat contract, except as specifically prohibited in the applicable easement, contract, or memorandum of understanding, or by other applicable law.
This measure would commemorate the 40th anniversary of Title IX on June 23, 2012, commend the movement toward increased equality and fair treatment of female athletes, and praise the goal of greater opportunities in sports for girls and young women in California.
This measure would proclaim June 2012 as Scleroderma Awareness Month.
The State Civil Service Act requires that eligible lists for state civil service positions be established as a result of free competitive examinations open to persons who lawfully may be appointed and who meet the minimum qualifications. The act requires the State Personnel Board or a designated appointing power to advertise examinations for the establishment of eligible lists within a reasonable time before the scheduled date of the exam. This bill would require the board to notify the Department of Veterans Affairs when any promotional examination for the establishment of an eligible list is announced or advertised to eligible candidates.
The Teachers' Retirement Law limits the amount of postretirement compensation that may be earned in specified types of employment by a retired member of the Defined Benefit Program without a reduction in the retirement benefits of the member. That law provides exemptions from this limit and until June 30, 2012, specifies that the limitation provisions do not apply to compensation earned by a member retired for service who has returned to work after retirement and, for at least 12 consecutive months, has not performed specified activities. This bill would extend the operation of that exemption until June 30, 2013. The bill also would exempt from the earnings limitation, until June 30, 2013, compensation paid to a retired member who has returned to work after the date of retirement as a trustee, administrator, or fiscal adviser approved pursuant to specified provisions by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, or a county superintendent of schools to address academic or financial weaknesses in a school district. The bill would specify the documentation required for any of those persons exercising that compensation exemption. The bill would additionally exempt from the earnings limitation an employee of a 3rd party which does not participate in a California public pension system if the activities performed by the person are not normally performed by employees of a public employer and it is for a limited-term assignment. The Teachers' Retirement Law limits the amount of compensation for certain creditable service activities by a retired member in one school year to be $22,000 adjusted by the percentage change in the average compensation earnable by active members of the Defined Benefit Program, from the 1998–99 fiscal year to the fiscal year ending in the previous calendar year.The bill would change that limit to be 12 of the median final compensation of all members who retired for service during the fiscal year ending in the previous calendar year. Existing law authorizes a retired member of the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) to terminate his or her retirement allowance, reinstate as an active member, and later cancel the termination upon subsequently retiring, as specified. Existing law prescribes the conditions under which a STRS service retirement allowance becomes effective and requires, in this regard, that the effective date be at least one year following the date on which it is terminated pursuant to the above-described provision. This bill would eliminate the one-year waiting period after the termination. The bill would also prohibit a member who terminates his or her retirement allowance pursuant to that provision and retires within one year of reinstatement from electing a different option or different set of beneficiaries than were in effect at the time of the termination. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors to adopt, by resolution, a fee of up to $3 for each recording of a real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded, except as specified. Existing law defines the term "real estate instrument" to mean a deed of trust, an assignment of trust, a reconveyance, a request for notice, a notice of default, a substitution of trustee, a notice of trustee sale, or a notice of rescission of declaration of default. Existing law requires a district attorney in a participating county to annually submit a report to the Legislative Analyst's Office on the effectiveness of deterring, investigating, and prosecuting real estate fraud crimes funded by the recording fee, and requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to report to the Legislature on these efforts, as specified. This bill would increase the highest fee that may be charged to $10 and would also include in the definition of "real estate instrument" an amended deed of trust, an abstract of judgment, an affidavit, an assignment of rents, an assignment of a lease, a construction trust deed, covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) , a declaration of homestead, an easement, a lease, a lien, a lot line adjustment, a mechanics lien, a modification for deed of trust, a notice of completion, a quitclaim deed, a subordination agreement, a trustee's deed upon sale, and any Uniform Commercial Code amendment, assignment, continuation, statement, or termination. The bill would repeal the specific reporting requirement from county district attorneys to the Legislative Analyst's Office and from the Legislative Analyst's Office to the Legislature.