Under the Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act, the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank is authorized to make secured loans and to undertake related activities for the purpose of financing projects, as defined, that relate to infrastructure improvements. The act provides for the establishment of the State Infrastructure Revolving Account in the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Fund, and continuously appropriates the money in the fund to the bank for expenditure for purposes of the act. This bill would, pursuant to certain definitions, authorize the bank to expend account funds, provided to this state by the federal economic stimulus plan, for purposes of the federal Community Block Grant Fund Program to create credit enhancements or to provide loan guarantees or low-interest loans to offset the State Infrastructure Revolving Fund Program's transaction costs, or to supplement the program. The bill would make an appropriation by providing for an additional expenditure from a continuously appropriated account.
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Existing law declares the duty of the state to care for and protect the children that it places into foster care. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services has various powers and duties relating to ensuring that the needs of foster children are met by local child welfare agencies and foster care providers, including relative caregivers. This bill would require the department to support one or more California-based applications for a federal matching grant, known as a family connection grant, for the purpose of helping children who are in, or at risk of entering, foster care reconnect with family members, as provided for by a specified provision of federal law.
(1) Existing law specifies the types of securities that are eligible for the investment of surplus state funds. This bill would require that the first priority for the investment of surplus moneys in negotiable certificates of deposit under specified provisions be given to time deposits in an eligible community bank, as defined, or a credit union operating in this state to the maximum extent consistent with liquidity requirements and prudent management of surplus moneys. (2) Existing law prescribes the instruments in, and criteria by, which local agencies, as defined, may invest surplus funds. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2012, the investment of up to 30% of those funds in certificates of deposit at a commercial bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, or credit union that uses a private sector entity that assists in the placement of certificates of deposit, as specified. This bill would provide that a local agency, when it chooses to invest surplus funds in certificates of deposit, give priority to an eligible community bank or a credit union operating in this state.
Existing law establishes various housing assistance programs directed by the Department of Housing and Community Development. This bill would establish the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program within the department for the purpose of distributing funds to 2 specified populations of individuals and families facing housing instability, estimated at approximately $44 million, provided by the federal Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This bill would also establish the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Account within the Federal Trust Fund, a continuously appropriate fund, for the purpose of accepting and distributing these federal funds.
Existing law appropriates the sum of $402,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the 2009–10 fiscal year to be allocated to schoolsites selected to participate in the Quality Education Investment Act program, as specified. Existing law requires the Superintendent, for each school district and chartering authority receiving an allocation pursuant to these provisions, to reduce its revenue limit or its general purpose entitlement, as specified, for the 2009–10 school year by the amount of the allocation received pursuant to these provisions. This bill would condition this reduction upon certification by the Superintendent that an equivalent amount of additional federal or state funds that may be used by a school district or chartering authority for revenue limit or general purpose uses have been made available to the school district or chartering authority. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Director of Finance to report to the Legislature by March 1, 2010, the amount of the reductions specified in the bill that will not be eligible for restoration with available federal funding. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to use $64,872,000 in federal funds, as specified, in combination with other available funds, for the purpose of awarding grants to local educational agencies that participate in the Quality Education Investment Act Program in the 2009–10 fiscal year, thereby making an appropriation.
Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling them to remain in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Existing law permits services to be provided under the IHSS program either through the employment of individual providers, a contract between the county and an entity for the provision of services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. Under existing law, IHSS recipients who are eligible for the Medi-Cal program are provided with personal care option services, as defined, in lieu of receiving these services under the IHSS program. Existing law, enacted in 2009, makes various statutory changes with respect to the provision of in-home supportive services, relating to matters, including, but not limited to, provider enrollment procedures, criminal background checks, orientation, and duties, as well as eligibility standards for recipients, unannounced home visits, and program integrity and fraud prevention. This bill would make the operation of the statutory changes described above subject to a stakeholder process, to be conducted, as specified, by the State Department of Social Services, prior to the implementation of those changes. The bill would require implementation of any of the statutory changes described in the bill to occur either on the date specified in an applicable statute, or 60 days after the department notifies the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that the changes may be implemented, whichever is later. This bill would prohibit information notices relating to the implementation of these statutory changes from being sent to recipients or providers until the stakeholder process is completed. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish a Reentry Advisory Committee, comprised as specified, to advise the secretary on matters related to the successful planning, implementation, and outcomes of all reentry programs and services in the department, with the goal of reducing recidivism. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2011. This bill would impose additional requirements on the committee, including that the committee seek and apply for federal funds, develop a comprehensive strategic reentry plan seeking to reduce the recidivism rate, develop a comprehensive resource guide for entities working to address reentry issues, and issue reports, as specified. The bill would expand the membership of the committee. The bill would extend the repeal date on these provisions until January 1, 2016.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC to require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison, to identify a separate electrical rate component to fund programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. This rate component is a nonbypassable element of local distribution and collected on the basis of usage. Existing PUC resolutions refer to the nonbypassable rate component as a "public goods charge." The public goods charge moneys are collected to support cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, public interest research and development not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets, and renewable energy resources. The existing Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) . Existing law establishes the Renewable Resource Trust Fund as a fund that is continuously appropriated, with certain exceptions for administrative expenses, in the State Treasury and requires that certain moneys collected to support renewable energy resources through the public goods charge are deposited into the fund and authorizes the Energy Commission to expend the moneys pursuant to the Renewable Energy Resources Program. This bill would make conforming changes to terms used in the Renewable Energy Resources Program statutes that would be made by SB 14 of the 2009–10 Regular Session. (2) The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the PUC with respect to the purchase of electricity and requires the PUC 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 (RPS program) . The RPS program requires that a retail seller of electricity, including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, but not including local publicly owned electric utilities, purchase a specified minimum percentage of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources in any given year as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold to retail end-use customers each calendar year. The RPS program requires the PUC to implement annual procurement targets for each retail seller to increase its total procurement of electricity generated by eligible renewable energy resources by at least an additional 1% of retail sales per year so that 20% of its retail sales of electricity are procured from eligible renewable energy resources no later than December 31, 2010. Existing law requires the PUC to make a determination of the existing market cost for electricity, which PUC decisions call the market price referent, and to limit an electrical corporation's obligation to procure electricity from eligible renewable energy resources, that exceeds the market price referent, to an amount collected through the renewable energy public goods charge. This bill would delete an existing requirement that the PUC adopt flexible rules for compliance for retail sellers. The bill would require the PUC to direct each electrical corporation to prepare a renewable energy procurement plan that includes certain matter and to review and update the plan. The bill would, to the extent feasible, require that the renewable energy procurement plan be proposed, reviewed, and adopted by the PUC pursuant to the general procurement plan process. The bill would require that an electrical corporation's proposed procurement plan include a showing that the electrical corporation will, in order to fulfill its unmet resource needs, procure resources from eligible renewable energy resources in an amount sufficient to meet its procurement targets pursuant to the RPS program. The bill would authorize an electrical corporation to apply to the PUC for approval to construct, own, and operate an eligible renewable energy resource and require the PUC to approve the application if certain conditions are met, until corporation owned and operated resources provide 8.5% of the corporation's anticipated retail sales. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill are within the act and require action by the PUC to implement its requirements, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. (3) The Public Utilities Act prohibits any electrical corporation from beginning the construction of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the PUC a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require that construction, termed a certificate of public convenience and necessity. Existing law requires the PUC, in acting upon an application by an electrical corporation for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, to deem new transmission facilities necessary to the provision of electric service if the PUC finds that new transmission facilities are necessary to facilitate achievement of the renewable power goals established under the RPS program. Existing law requires the PUC, upon finding that new transmission facilities are necessary to facilitate achievement of the renewable power goals established under the RPS, to take all feasible actions to ensure that the transmission rates established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are fully reflected in any retail rates established by the PUC. This bill would require the PUC to issue a decision on an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity within 18 months of the filing of a completed application under specified circumstances. The bill would require the PUC, in acting upon an application by an electrical corporation for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, to deem new transmission facilities necessary to the provision of electric service if the PUC finds that new transmission facilities are reasonably necessary or appropriate to facilitate achievement of the renewables portfolio standard. The bill would require the PUC to provide assurance of the eligibility for recovery in retail rates of any increase in transmission costs incurred by an electrical corporation resulting from the construction of transmission facilities in certain circumstances and to allow recovery in retail rates of any increase in transmission costs if not approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission if the PUC determines the costs were prudently incurred pursuant to a specified law. (4) Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Game in the Natural Resources Agency, and generally charges the department with the administration and enforcement of the Fish and Game Code. This bill would require the department to establish an internal division with the primary purpose of performing comprehensive planning and environmental compliance services with priority given to projects involving the building of eligible renewable energy resources. (5) The existing restructuring of the electrical industry within the Public Utilities Act provides for the establishment of an Independent System Operator (ISO) . Existing law requires the ISO to ensure efficient use and reliable operation of the transmission grid consistent with achieving planning and operating reserve criteria no less stringent than those established by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and the American Electric Reliability Council. Pursuant to existing law, the ISO's tariffs are required to be approved by the FERC. This bill would require the ISO and other California balancing authorities to work cooperatively to integrate and interconnect eligible renewable energy resources to the transmission grid by the most efficient means possible with the goal of minimizing the impact and cost of new transmission facilities needed to meet both reliability needs and the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements, and to accomplish this in a manner that respects the ownership, business, and dispatch models for transmission facilities owned by electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, joint power agencies, and merchant transmission companies. (6) The bill would require the Energy Commission, by July 1, 2010, to update previously conducted studies relating to determining the effective load carrying capacity of wind and solar energy resources on the electrical grid. The bill would require the PUC to use those values in establishing the contribution of those resources toward meeting specified resource adequacy requirements. (7) 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. (8) The provisions of the bill would only become operative if the bill and SB 14 of the 2009–10 Regular Session are both enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2010.
Under existing law, a county welfare department is required to request a consumer disclosure, pursuant to federal law, on behalf of a youth in a foster care placement in the county, when the youth reaches his or her 16th birthday, in order to ascertain whether the youth has been the victim of identity theft. If the consumer disclosure reveals any negative items, or evidence that identity theft has occurred, existing law requires the county welfare department to refer the youth to an approved organization that provides services to victims of identity theft. Existing law requires the department to develop a list of approved organizations for this purpose, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association and others. This bill would revise the above provisions, to require the county welfare department or the State Department of Social Services to ascertain whether identity theft may have occurred under the described circumstances. The bill would require the matter to be referred to a governmental agency or nonprofit organization that provides information and assistance to victims of identity theft, rather than to an approved counseling organization. The bill would authorize the agency or the nonprofit organization to take remedial actions to clear the youth's credit record and to report the results to the referring agency. The bill would require the Office of Privacy Protection, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services and other specified entities, to develop a list of governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations.
The Real Estate Law provides for the regulation and licensure of real estate brokers and real estate salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to require that materials used in obtaining advance fee agreements be submitted to him or her at least 10 calendar days before the materials are used and makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 6 months, or both, to use any agreement that the commissioner has ordered not to be used. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to determine the form of the advance fee agreements. This bill would instead require the commissioner to determine the form of advance fee agreements and to mandate the submission of advance fee agreement materials prior to their use. The bill would also prohibit advertisements used in obtaining advance fee agreements from using words, letters, initials, symbols, or other devices that are similar to those used by a governmental agency or nonprofit entity, as specified. The bill would also increase the maximum fine for using any agreement that the commissioner has ordered not to be used from $1,000 to $2,500, and would increase the maximum imprisonment time for a violation to 12 months. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Real Estate Law makes it unlawful for any person to claim, demand, charge, receive, collect, or contract for an advance fee for soliciting lenders on behalf of borrowers or performing services for borrowers in connection with a mortgage loan before the borrower becomes obligated to complete the loan and for performing any other activity for which a license is required, unless the person is a licensed real estate broker and has complied with the provisions of the Real Estate Law. A violation of that provision constitutes a public offense punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 for an individual or $50,000 for a corporation. Existing law exempts from that prohibition state-chartered banks, savings associations, credit unions, industrial loan companies, and licensed finance lenders and brokers. This bill would increase those fines to $20,000 and $60,000, respectively, and would increase the maximum imprisonment time for a violation to 12 months. The bill would also make it unlawful, until January 1, 2013, for a real estate broker, or any other person who performs loan modification services, as specified, to claim, demand, charge, receive, or collect a fee paid for by a borrower for a loan modification agreement, as defined, until the terms of the loan have been modified, and would require provision of a specified notice prior to entering into a loan modification agreement with a borrower. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make an attorney subject to disciplinary sanctions if he or she claims, demands, charges, receives, or collects a fee paid for by a borrower in connection with a loan modification agreement until the terms of the loan have been modified. The bill would further exempt from the fee prohibition licensed residential mortgage lenders and servicers. The bill would also exempt nonprofit community-based organizations, and employees of those organizations, that provide counseling services at no cost to borrowers in connection with loan modifications from certain provisions of the Real Estate Law regulating certain activities of real estate brokers and salespersons. 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.