Asm. Cheryl R. Brown

The Enterprise Zone Act provides for the designation of zones according to specified criteria, pursuant to which certain entities within each zone may receive regulatory, tax, and other incentives for economic and employment development and private investment. Existing law provides definitions for the purposes of the act. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this latter provision.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to develop and recommend for adoption by the State Board of Education a standardized template intended to simplify the process for completing the school accountability report card and to make the school accountability report card more meaningful to the public. Existing law requires the department, by July 1, 2006, to develop, and recommend for adoption by the state board, a revision to the standardized template. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that latter provision.

Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and requires the department to enforce and administer the fish and game laws pursuant to the policies formulated by the Fish and Game Commission. Existing law makes it is unlawful to take, possess, or needlessly destroy the nest or eggs of any bird, except as provided. Existing law makes it is unlawful to take, possess, or destroy any birds-of-prey or to take, possess, or destroy the nest or eggs of these birds, except as provided. For these purposes, under existing law "take" means hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill, or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill. This bill would authorize the department to issue a permit to an applicant to take the nests or eggs of any bird and to take any birds-of-prey if the take is incidental to the construction of an electrical transmission infrastructure project, as defined, and if the applicant satisfies other specified conditions. This bill would require an application for a permit to be submitted to each regional manager for the region or regions in which the electrical transmission infrastructure project will be located and to contain specified information. This bill would provide that these permits shall be subject to the Permit Streamlining Act. This bill would provide that these provisions shall remain in effect until January 1, 2015, or until the date of final adoption of regulations by the Fish and Game Commission authorizing a permitting program for take of birds, eggs, and nests protected by the provisions described above, whichever is sooner. Under existing law, the department is authorized to issue permits to take specified birds and animals. A violation of a permit issued by the department is a crime. Because this bill would authorize the department to issue a permit to take birds-of-prey and the nests and eggs of any bird, the violation of which would be a crime, 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.

Existing law provides that the Board of Parole Hearings or its successor in interest shall be the state's parole authority. Existing law provides that a prisoner who is found to be permanently medically incapacitated, as specified, shall be granted medical parole, if the Board of Parole Hearings determines that the conditions under which the prisoner would be released would not reasonably pose a threat to public safety. Existing law exempts a prisoner sentenced to death, a prisoner sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, and a prisoner who is serving a sentence for which parole is prohibited by initiative statute, from medical parole eligibility. This bill would additionally exempt from medical parole eligibility a prisoner who was convicted of the murder of a peace officer, as provided. This bill would not apply that exemption to a prisoner who committed the underlying offense on or after January 1, 2011, but before January 1, 2014.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the department to adopt, amend, or repeal any reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper to carry out the purposes and intent of the provisions governing the licensure of health facilities and to enable the department to exercise its powers and perform its duties. This bill would authorize the department to, without taking regulatory action, update references in regulations to health care standards of practice adopted by a recognized state or national association, when the state or national association and its outdated standards are already named in the regulations, by posting on its Internet Web site in accordance with specified notice, public comment, and hearing requirements.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit in the amount of $3,000 for each full-time employee hired by a qualified employer applicable to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, and ending upon a cut-off date calculated based upon an estimate by the Franchise Tax Board of claims cumulatively totaling $400,000,000 for all taxable years, as specified. Existing law also creates the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, which has specified duties in regard to low-income housing credits. This bill would instead calculate the cut-off date for the above-described hiring credit based upon an estimate by the Franchise Tax Board of claims cumulatively totaling $200,000,000 for all taxable years, as specified. This bill would also allow a credit under both laws, in modified conformity with a federal New Market Tax Credit, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, and before January 1, 2020, in a specified amount for investments in low-income communities. The bill would limit the total annual amount of credit allowed pursuant to these provisions to $40,000,000 and would limit the allocation of the credit to a cumulative total of no more than $200,000,000. This bill would impose specified duties on the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee with regard to the application for, and allocation of, the credit. The bill would require the committee to establish and impose reasonable fees upon entities that apply for the allocation of the credit and use the revenue to defray the cost of administering the program, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would also appropriate $150,000 from the Tax Credit Allocation Fee Account to the committee for purposes of implementing the tax credit. This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law specifies the number of judges of the superior court for each county, and allocates additional judgeships to the various counties in accordance with uniform standards for factually determining additional need in each county, as approved by the Judicial Council, and other specified criteria. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to report biennially to the Legislature and the Governor on the factually determined need for new judgeships in each superior court, using that uniform criteria. This bill would require the Judicial Council, upon the availability of funding, to allocate 12 additional judges each fiscal year to those counties in which the current judicial position allocations are disproportionate to the Judicial Council's recommendation of assessed judicial need.

Existing law authorizes a peace officer who determines that a person was driving a vehicle while his or her driving privilege was suspended or revoked, driving in violation of a driver's license restriction requiring that person to operate a vehicle that is equipped with a functioning, certified ignition interlock device, or driving a vehicle without ever having been issued a driver's license, to either immediately arrest that person and cause the removal and seizure of that vehicle or, if the vehicle is involved in a traffic collision, cause the removal and seizure of the vehicle without the necessity of arresting the person. Existing law requires a 30-day impoundment period for seized vehicles, subject to exceptions allowing earlier release. This bill would instead require a seized vehicle to be impounded for 15 days, subject to exceptions allowing earlier release. The bill would make additional conforming changes.

Existing law establishes a program for the California Health Facilities Authority to award grants that do not exceed $1,500,000 to one or more projects designed to demonstrate specified new or enhanced cost-effective methods of delivering quality health care services to improve access to quality health care for vulnerable populations or communities, or both, that are effective at enhancing health outcomes and improving access to quality health care and preventive services. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

(1) The Radiation Control Law requires the State Department of Public Health to regulate the use and control of radiologic materials. A violation of the Radiation Control Law, or a regulation adopted pursuant to that law, is a misdemeanor. The federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, authorizes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enter into agreements with the governor of a state providing for discontinuance of certain regulatory authority of the commission with respect to byproduct materials, source materials, and special nuclear materials in quantities not sufficient to form a critical mass. This bill would provide that with certain exceptions the regulations, adopted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in effect on January 1, 2014, are deemed to be the regulations of this state and adopted pursuant to the Radiation Control Law, if the regulations, among other things, are required by federal law or regulation to be adopted by an agreement state in an essentially identical manner. The bill would provide for the adoption of future federal regulations, including amendment thereto, if the department finds the regulations meet that criteria. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations that it determines are necessary for the administration and enforcement of the adopted federal regulations. The bill would also prohibit the department from adopting regulations that are determined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or its successor, to address areas of regulation that cannot be relinquished to agreement states. The bill would also make conforming changes and delete obsolete provisions and erroneous references. Since a violation of the regulations adopted pursuant to the law is a 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.