The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit against those taxes for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, in an amount equal to a specified percentage of the qualified expenditures, as defined, attributable to the production of a qualified motion picture in California, or, where the qualified motion picture has relocated to California or is an independent film, as provided. Existing law allows specified qualified taxpayers to elect to assign the credit, requires specified information from qualified taxpayers that apply for a tax credit allocation, and imposes specified duties on the California Film Commission related to the administration of the credits, including a requirement to allocate the tax credits until July 1, 2015, and limits the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated to qualified motion pictures in any fiscal year to $100,000,000, through the 2014–15 fiscal year. Existing law additionally allows, in lieu of the credits under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law for qualified motion pictures, a credit against qualified state sales and use taxes, as provided. This bill, under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, would impose additional duties on the California Film Commission related to the administration of the credits and would extend the requirement to allocate the tax credits 2 additional years, until July 1, 2017. This bill would also extend the limit on the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated through the 2016–17 fiscal year. This bill would also require assigning qualified taxpayers to provide the Franchise Tax Board with specified information, would revise the information included in an application for a tax credit allocation, and require the Legislative Analyst's Office to prepare reports related to the effectiveness and administration of the qualified motion picture credit under the Sales and Use Tax Law, the Personal Income Tax Law, and the Corporation Tax Law. This bill would require the California Film Commission to annually post on its Internet Web site and make available for public release specified information, including a list of qualified taxpayers and the tax credit amounts allocated to each qualified taxpayer by the commission. The bill would authorize various state agencies to disclose specified taxpayer information for purposes of the Legislative Analyst's Office report, and would impose specified criminal penalties on the disclosure of that information. By expanding the crime of knowingly and wrongfully accessing, using, or disclosing specified information, 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 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.
Sponsored bills
The Youth Authority Act provides for the detention and confinement of youthful offenders by the Division of Juvenile Facilities of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Existing law establishes a pilot program requiring the Division of Juvenile Facilities to purchase 2 medical laser devices for the removal of tattoos, as specified, from eligible participants who are at-risk youth, ex-offenders, and current or former gang members, as specified. Existing law further establishes the California Voluntary Tattoo Removal Program, which serves individuals between 14 and 24 years of age, inclusive, who are in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or county probation departments, who are on parole or probation, or who are in a community-based organization serving at-risk youth, through a competitive grant process, as specified. This bill would expand these tattoo removal programs to serve individuals who were tattooed for identification in trafficking or prostitution and are in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or county probation departments, who are on parole or probation, or who are in a specified community-based organization. The bill would also express the intent of the Legislature to encourage the Board of State and Community Corrections to extend current federal funding, if available, to programs serving individuals from 14 and 24 years of age, inclusive, who were tattooed for identification in trafficking or prostitution.
Existing law establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System. These systems provide defined pension benefits to public employees based on age, service credit, and final compensation. The California Constitution confers upon the retirement boards of public retirement systems plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for the investment of moneys of those systems. This bill would authorize these public retirement system boards, consistent with their fiduciary duties and the standard for prudent investment, to prioritize investment in an in-state infrastructure project over a comparable out-of-state infrastructure project.
Existing federal law provides for tax-qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities by which private citizens may save money for retirement. This bill would enact the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act, which would create the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust to be administered by the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board, which would also be established by the bill. The bill would require eligible employers, as defined, to offer a payroll deposit retirement savings arrangement so that eligible employees, as defined, could contribute a portion of their salary or wages to a retirement savings program account in the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program, as specified. The bill would require eligible employees to participate in the program, unless the employee opts out of the program, as specified. The bill would specify risk management and investment policies that the board would be subject to regarding administration of the program. The bill would require a specified percentage of the annual salary or wages of an eligible employee participating in the program to be deposited in the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust, which would be segregated into a program fund and an administrative fund, both of which would be continuously appropriated to the board for purposes of the act. The bill would limit expenditures from the administrative fund, as specified. The bill would also authorize the board to establish a Gain and Loss Reserve Account within the program fund. The bill would, contingent upon sufficient interest and funding by vendors, as specified, require the board to establish a Retirement Investments Clearinghouse on its Internet Web site and a vendor registration process through which information about employer-sponsored retirement plans, and payroll deduction individual retirement accounts and annuities offered by private sector providers is made available for consideration by eligible employers. The bill would require the opt-out form disseminated by the Employment Development Department to be used to create an option for employees to elect to opt out of the program, as specified. The bill would, commencing 6 months after the program is ready to proceed, require the Employment Development Department to assess a penalty on any eligible employer that fails to make the program available to eligible employees, as specified. The bill also would make a statement of legislative findings. The bill would provide that the state would have no liability for the payment of the benefits under the program, as specified. The bill, upon sufficient funds being made available through a nonprofit or private entity or federal funding, would require the board to conduct a market analysis to determine whether the necessary conditions for implementation can be met, as specified. The bill would require moneys made available to conduct the market analysis to be deposited in the Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program Fund which would be created in the State Treasury. The bill would provide that the operational provisions of the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act shall be operative only if the board determines that, based on the market analysis, the provisions will be self-sustaining, and sufficient funds are made available through a nonprofit or private entity, federal funding, or the annual Budget Act, as specified, to allow the board to implement the program until the trust has sufficient funds to be self-sustaining. The bill would require the board to ensure that an insurance, annuity, or other funding mechanism is in place at all times that protects the value of individuals' accounts and protects, indemnifies, and holds the state harmless at all times against any and all liability in connection with funding retirement benefits pursuant to these provisions. The bill would prohibit the board from implementing the program if the IRA arrangements offered fail to qualify for the favorable federal income tax treatment ordinarily accorded to IRAs under the Internal Revenue Code, or if it is determined that the program is an employee benefit plan under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Existing law establishes the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and vests the board with various powers and duties. This bill would authorize that board to administer funds in the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to designate certain lanes for the exclusive use of high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) , which lanes may also be used, until January 1, 2015, by certain eligible low-emission and hybrid vehicles not carrying the requisite number of passengers otherwise required for the use of HOV lanes if the vehicle displays a valid identifier issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Existing law provides that a vehicle, eligible under these provisions to use HOV lanes, that meets the California's enhanced advanced technology partial zero-emission vehicle (enhanced AT PZEV) standard is not exempt from toll charges imposed on single-occupant vehicles in lanes designated for tolls pursuant to a federally supported value-pricing and transit development program involving high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes conducted by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. This bill would instead exempt, with specified exceptions applicable to passage on designated state highways, all of the low-emission and hybrid vehicles eligible to use HOV lanes under these provisions, including vehicles that meet the enhanced AT PZEV standards, from toll charges imposed on HOT lanes unless prohibited by federal law. The bill would exclude a toll imposed for passage on a toll road or toll highway, that is not an HOT lane, a toll imposed for crossing a state-owned bridge, or, until March 1, 2014, a toll imposed for passage in HOT lanes designated for State Highway Route 10 or 110, from this exemption. The bill would provide that these changes shall be known as the Choose Clean Cars Act of 2012.
(1) Existing law imposes various licensing and regulatory requirements on dealers of motor vehicles and requires that certain fees and charges be disclosed in a conditional sale contract for the purchase of a motor vehicle. A violation of the disclosure requirements for conditional sales contracts is a misdemeanor. This bill would additionally require, as of July 1, 2013, the disclosure and labeling, as specified, of the total amount charged by the seller for an electric vehicle charging station, which may include only the charges for the station device, any materials and wiring, and any installation services. The bill would also require a seller, as of July 1, 2013, before executing a conditional sale contract that includes a charge for an electric vehicle charging station, to provide the buyer with, and obtain the buyer's signature on, a written disclosure, in a specified manner, that includes a description and price of the electric vehicle charging station, any materials and wiring, and equipment installation services included in the total charge. Because the bill would create a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the 4 segments of the postsecondary education system in the state. These segments include the 3 public postsecondary segments: the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and independent postsecondary educational institutions constitute the other segment. Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by resolution, to make them applicable. Existing law urges textbook publishers to take specified actions aimed at reducing the amounts that students pay for textbooks, including providing to faculty and departments considering textbook orders a list of all the different products the publisher sells. Existing law requires the Trustees of the California State University and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and requests the Regents of the University of California, to take specific actions with their respective academic senates, college and university bookstores, and faculty to promote the selection of textbooks that will result in cost savings to students. This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to the cost of college and university textbooks. The bill would add provisions to the Donahoe Higher Education Act to establish the California Digital Open Source Library, under the administration of the California State University, in coordination with the California Community Colleges, for the purpose of housing open source materials while providing an Internet Web-based way for students, faculty, and staff to easily find, adopt, utilize, or modify course materials for little or no cost. The bill would provide that the California State University would also act in coordination with the University of California in administering the California Digital Open Source Library if the regents act, by appropriate resolution, to authorize the university to participate in the administration of the library. The bill would require that the materials in the library bear a creative commons attribution license that allows others to use, distribute, and create derivative works based upon the digital material while still allowing the authors or creators of the material to receive credit for their efforts. The bill would provide that the provisions added to the Donahoe Higher Education Act by the bill would become operative only if funding for the purposes of this bill is provided in an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute, or through federal or private funds, or through a combination of state, federal, and private funds. The bill would become operative only if SB 1052 becomes operative on or before January 1, 2013, and establishes the California Open Education Resources Council.
Existing law establishes the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority and requires the authority to provide financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion for applicants to promote the creation of California-based manufacturing, California-based jobs, the reduction of greenhouse gases, or reductions in air and water pollution or energy consumption. This bill would require the authority to establish the Clean Energy Economy and Jobs Incentive Program to provide financial assistance in the form of specified financing mechanisms to eligible California-based entities for the manufacturing of an eligible clean energy technology project, as specified. The bill would establish the Clean Energy Economy and Jobs Incentive Program Fund in the State Treasury and would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the authority to expend moneys in the fund to implement the program. The bill would repeal the program on January 1, 2018.
Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate community care facilities, including foster family agencies and other facilities that provide foster care services for children. A violation of community care facility provisions is a misdemeanor. Existing law requires the department to develop, and an administrator of a group home facility to complete, a certification program that includes training in various areas, including the rights of foster children. Existing law requires a foster family agency to provide, and a licensed foster parent to complete, preplacement training and additional annual training in various areas, including the rights of foster children. Existing law also requires a community college district with a foster care education program to make orientation and training available to a relative or nonrelative extended family member caregiver, as specified. The bill would require the training for an administrator of a group home facility, licensed foster parent, and relative or nonrelative extended family member caregiver to also include instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity relating to, and best practices for, providing adequate care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth in out-of-home care. Existing law provides that it is the policy of the state that foster children have specified rights. This bill would provide that foster children also have the right to have caregivers and child welfare personnel who have received instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity relating to, and best practices for, providing adequate care to LGBT youth in out-of-home care.
The False Claims Act provides that a person who commits any one of several enumerated acts relating to the submission to the state or a political subdivision of the state a false claim for money, property, or services, as specified, shall be liable to the state or political subdivision for certain damages and for a civil penalty, as specified. Existing law authorizes a person to bring a civil action for damages resulting from fraudulent claims against the state or a political subdivision, and to share in the recovery. Existing law prohibits employers from engaging in certain acts that prevent employees from disclosing information to the government or law enforcement agency or from acting in furtherance of a false claims action. Existing law requires that a civil action for a false claim be filed within a specified time period. This bill would define the term obligation for purposes of these provisions and expand the definition of a claim. The bill would increase the civil penalty for each violation, as specified. The bill would authorize a court to award a person who planned and initiated a violation, as specified, a share of the proceeds of the action, as specified. The bill would provide specified relief to any employee, contractor, or agent that is, among other things, discharged, demoted, suspended, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of his or her employment because of certain acts done by the employee, contractor, or agent in furtherance of these provisions or to stop one or more violations, as specified. The bill would modify the statute of limitations of certain civil actions, as specified.