This measure would recognize February 2010 as Black History Month, urge all residents to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and contributions that African Americans make to their communities.
(1) Existing law establishes the Class Size Reduction Program, under which a participating school district or county office of education reduces class size to 20 pupils per class in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive. If a school district or county office of education receives funding for a class, but fails to reduce the size of that class to 20 pupils, the school district or county office of education incurs a reduction in its next principal apportionment of state funds. Existing law provides that for the 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12 fiscal years, a local educational agency is eligible to receive funding for the same number of classes for which it had applied to receive program funding as of January 31, 2009. This bill would provide that, for the 2008–09 school year, a local educational agency may choose for state apportionment purposes the option to receive funding for the same number of classes for which it had applied to receive program funding as of January 31, 2009, or the funding option provided under the Class Size Reduction Program on December 31, 2008, prior to the enactment of the provision referenced above. This bill would provide that, for the 2009–10 school year, the Riverside Unified School District may choose to operate each of its grade 3 classrooms that participate in the Class Size Reduction Program either pursuant to the option to receive funding for the same number of classes for which it had applied to receive program funding as of January 31, 2009, or the funding option provided under the Class Size Reduction Program on December 31, 2008, prior to the enactment of the provision referenced above. (2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Riverside Unified School District. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides that an employer may not ask an applicant for employment to disclose, and an employer may not utilize in an employment-related decision, information concerning an arrest or detention that did not result in a conviction. This bill, in addition, would prohibit an employer from denying an application for employment for the reason that the applicant has previously been convicted of a criminal offense unless the employer determines that there is a direct relationship between the prior conviction and the employment sought or the granting of employment would involve an unreasonable risk to property or persons. This bill would require the employer to consider specified factors when determining whether either of those 2 circumstances exist. Because this bill would create a new crime, it 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 prescribes various penalties for criminal offenses. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to create the California Public Safety Commission, an independent, multijurisdictional body to work on issues related to the state's criminal justice system, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank governed and with its corporate power exercised by a board of directors that consists of the Director of Finance, or his or her designee, the Treasurer, or his or her designee, the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing, or his or her designee, an appointee of the Governor, and the Secretary of State and Consumer Services, or his or her designee. This bill would authorize the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules to each appoint one member of the public to serve as a nonvoting member of the board of directors.
This measure would memorialize the President and the Congress of the United States to enact the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which would make supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and state and local fiscal stabilization.
This measure would recognize February 2010 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and contributions that African Americans make to their communities.
Existing law sets forth the requirements for the solicitation and evaluation of bids and the awarding of contracts by public entities. The federal Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, which became Public Law 111-195 on July 1, 2010, authorizes a state or local government to adopt and enforce measures meeting certain requirements, to divest the assets of the state or local government from, or prohibit the investment of those assets in, any person that the state or local government, using credible information available to the public, determines to be engaged in investment activities in Iran. The federal act specifies that an investment includes the entry into, or renewal of, a contract for goods or services, and that such a measure is not preempted by any federal law or regulation. Pursuant to this authority, this bill would prohibit a person that provides goods or services of $20,000,000 or more in the energy sector of Iran, as identified on a list created by the Department of General Services, or a financial institution that extends $20,000,000 or more in credit to such a person, from bidding on or entering into or renewing a contract for goods or services of $1,000,000 or more with a public entity, as specified. This bill would, by June 1, 2011, require the Department of General Services to, using credible information available to the public, develop, or contract to develop, a list of persons it determines provide goods or services of $20,000,000 or more in the energy sector of Iran. This bill would, before a person is included on the list, require the Department of General Services to provide 90 days' written notice of its intent to include the person on the list and to inform the person that inclusion on the list would make the person ineligible to bid on, submit a proposal for, or enter into or renew, a contract for goods and services of $1,000,000 or more with a public entity, and would require the department to provide the person with an opportunity to comment in writing that it is not engaged in investment activities in Iran. This bill would require a prospective bidder for those contracts to certify that it is not identified on a list created by the Department of General Services, or a financial institution that extends $20,000,000 or more in credit to such a person, as provided, and would impose penalties, as specified, for a person that provides a false certification. This bill would require a local public entity, or the Department of General Services in the case of state contracts, to provide a person with 90 days' written notice and an opportunity to comment in writing before the penalties are imposed. The bill would allow a public entity, under specified conditions, to permit a person engaged in investment activities in Iran to be eligible for, to bid on, submit a proposal for, or enter into or renew, a contract for goods or services. This bill would preempt any law, ordinance, rules, or regulation of any local public entity involving contracts for goods or services of $1,000,000 or more with a person engaged in investment activities in Iran. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding a statewide concern. This bill would become inoperative upon the date that federal authorization ceases.
Existing law provides various programs to provide health care coverage to persons with limited financial resources, including the Medi-Cal program and the Healthy Families Program. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of its provisions a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to, by January 1, 2014, establish an American Health Benefit Exchange that facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers, as specified, and meets certain other requirements. This bill would enact the California Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and would, contingent on the enactment of SB 900, which would create the California Health Benefit Exchange (the Exchange) , specify the powers and duties of the board governing the Exchange relative to determining eligibility for enrollment in the Exchange and arranging for coverage under qualified health plans, and would require the board to facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans through the Exchange by qualified individuals and qualified small employers by January 1, 2014. The bill would create the California Health Trust Fund as a continuously appropriated fund and would make the implementation of these provisions contingent on a determination by the board that sufficient financial resources exist or will exist in the fund, as specified. The bill would enact other related provisions. The bill would impose various requirements on participating plans and insurers and, commencing January 1, 2014, on nonparticipating plans and insurers, as specified. Because a willful violation of these requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, the California Health Facilities Financing Authority Act, the California Health Facilities Authority is empowered to make loans under certain conditions from the continuously appropriated California Health Facilities Financing Authority Fund to nonprofit corporations or associations for financing or refinancing the acquisition, construction, or remodeling of health facilities. This bill would authorize the authority to provide a working capital loan of up to $5 million to assist in the establishment and operation of the California Health Benefit Exchange. The bill would require that loans awarded under the bill be made from the California Health Facilities Authority Fund and would require repayment of the loan by a specified date. Because the bill would expand the purposes for which a continuously appropriated fund may be used, it would make an appropriation. 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.
(1) Existing law provides for the out-of-home placement of children who are unable to remain in the custody and care of their parent or parents, and provides for a range of child welfare, foster care, and adoption assistance services for which these children may be eligible. Existing federal law, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, revises and expands federal programs and funding for certain foster and adopted children. Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities, including facilities that provide care for foster children, by the State Department of Social Services. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes the placement of children with varying designations and varying needs in the same facility under specified circumstances. This bill would extend these provisions to also include nonminor dependents commencing January 1, 2012. The bill would define the term "nonminor dependent" and related terms for purposes of the bill. This bill, commencing no later than July 1, 2012, would require the department, in consultation with specified government and other entities, to revise regulations regarding health and safety standards for licensing foster family homes and community care facilities in which nonminor dependents of the juvenile court are placed under the responsibility of the county welfare or probation department or an Indian tribe that has entered into a specified agreement with the department. Under existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act does not apply to designated categories of facilities, including, among others, the home of a relative caregiver or nonrelative extended family member of a child placed by a juvenile court, as specified. This bill would include, on and after January 1, 2012, a supervised independent living setting, and a THP-Plus-Foster Care placement, as established by the bill, for a nonminor dependent placed by the juvenile court on the list of facilities to which the act does not apply. The bill would require the department to convene a workgroup to establish a new rate structure for THP-Plus-Foster Care placements, and would require counties to submit to the department a plan setting forth how the county would provide for the THP-Plus-Foster Care program, as specified. By requiring counties to perform additional duties with respect to implementation of the THP-Plus-Foster Care program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which is permitted to adjudge certain children to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances. This bill would expand the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, effective January 1, 2012, to include a child who had been previously removed from the custody of his or her parent and placed in foster care, who was also declared a delinquent ward of the court, as specified. The bill would authorize a court to modify an existing order with respect to the delinquent ward under these circumstances and assert dependency jurisdiction, as specified. Existing law authorizes a juvenile court to retain jurisdiction over any person who is found to be a dependent child of the juvenile court until the ward or dependent child attains 21 years of age. Existing law places certain minors for whom a guardianship has been established within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. This bill would expand the court's jurisdiction to include, on and after January 1, 2012, a nonminor dependent who is receiving specified kinship guardian assistance payments. This bill would extend the court's jurisdiction to a ward who has been placed into foster care or a dependent who reaches the age of majority before jurisdiction is terminated until the nonminor reaches 21 years of age. The bill, commencing January 1, 2012, would allow a nonminor who left foster care at or after the age of majority to petition the court to have dependency or delinquency jurisdiction resumed, in accordance with a provision of existing law. The bill would authorize a local entity to obtain specified background information regarding a nonminor who may be placed in a foster care setting with minor dependent children under these circumstances. By making various conforming changes in provisions relating to the duties of local agency employees in dependency and delinquency proceedings, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law authorizes a social worker to place a child whom the court has ordered to be removed from his or her home into one of 7 designated placements, including the home of a noncustodial parent or the approved home of a relative. This bill would add to this list of approved placements, on and after January 1, 2012, a supervised independent living setting, as defined by the bill, for a nonminor dependent between 18 and 21 years of age. (4) Existing law authorizes a change in the placement of a child on an emergency basis due to the sudden unavailability of a foster caregiver. This bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would require, under these emergency circumstances, when a nonminor dependent is placed in the home of a relative or nonrelative, that the home be approved using the health and safety standards established by the department for the placement of nonminor dependents, as required by the bill. The bill would require the department, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to prepare for the implementation of these provisions by publishing all-county letters or similar instructions from the director, pending the adoption of emergency regulations, as specified. (5) Existing law requires the status of dependent children to be periodically reviewed, and requires the court to consider the safety of the child and make certain determinations. This bill similarly would require a status review for every nonminor dependent who is in foster care to be conducted pursuant to specified provisions. This bill, commencing January 1, 2012, would require the court to ensure that the child's transitional independent living case plan includes a plan for the child to meet one or more criteria that would allow the child to remain a nonminor dependent, and to ensure that the child has been informed of his or her right to seek the termination of dependency jurisdiction. This bill, on and after October 1, 2012, would authorize a court to continue jurisdiction over a nonminor dependent with a permanent plan of long-term foster care, and would designate the responsibilities of the court in this regard. (6) Existing law establishes procedures for a hearing to terminate the court's jurisdiction over a dependent child who has reached the age of majority. This bill would delete the existing hearing procedures as of January 1, 2012, and would set forth revised hearing requirements for determining whether to terminate or continue dependency jurisdiction. The bill would require the court to continue dependency jurisdiction for a child participating in certain educational or vocational activities. This bill would impose various duties on county welfare departments in connection with the hearing process, thereby creating a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a court to authorize a trial period of independence from foster care, as defined, when it terminates dependency jurisdiction over a nonminor dependent youth, as authorized by specified federal law. (7) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to develop statewide standards for the Independent Living Program for emancipated foster youth, which is established and funded pursuant to federal law to assist these individuals in making the transition to self-sufficiency. Under existing law, the department is required to develop and adopt emergency regulations that counties are required to meet when administering the program, that are achievable within available resources. This bill would require the department to develop and adopt the Independent Living Program regulations on or before July 1, 2012, and would specify that the regulations be achievable within both available program resources and available federal funds for case management and case plan review provided for in the federal act. The bill would require the department, by a specified date, to review and develop modifications to the Independent Living Program to also serve the needs of nonminor dependent youth, as specified. (8) Existing law prohibits benefits under the CalWORKs program from being paid to or on behalf of any child who has attained 18 years of age, unless the child is engaged in specified educational or training activities. This bill, on and after January 1, 2012, also would authorize a nonminor dependent, as defined, to receive CalWORKs aid, as specified. (9) Existing law authorizes a child who is declared a ward or dependent child of the court who is 16 years of age or older, to retain specified cash resources and still remain eligible to receive public social services. This bill would apply this provision, on and after January 1, 2012, to a current or former dependent child or ward of the court between 18 and 21 years of age, who is participating in a transitional independent living case plan pursuant to the federal act. (10) Existing law, through the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP) , which is a part of the CalWORKs program, provides aid on behalf of eligible children who are placed in the home of a relative caretaker. The program is funded by state and county funding and available federal funds. Existing eligibility requirements for the Kin-GAP Program include a requirement that a child has been living with a relative for at least 12 consecutive months. This bill would reduce the above requirement to 6 months, consistent with federal law. To the extent that this would increase duties of counties administering the Kin-GAP program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would revise the Kin-GAP Program, by repealing the existing program and enacting similar provisions, effective on the date that the Director of Social Services executes a declaration, as required by the bill, declaring that increased federal financial participation in the Emergency Contingency Fund for State TANF Programs is no longer available pursuant to the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Public Law 111-5) , or subsequent federal legislation that maintains or extends increased federal financial participation to provide state-funded assistance for youth not eligible under the federally funded program and would require the state to exercise its option under specified federal law to establish a kinship guardianship assistance payment program, with components as set forth in the bill, for youth eligible for federal financial participation. This bill would require, as a condition of receiving payments under the revised Kin-GAP Program provisions, that a county welfare agency, probation department, or Indian tribe, as applicable, negotiate and enter into a written, binding kinship guardianship assistance agreement with the relative guardian of an eligible child, as prescribed. The bill also would specify the state's share of cost for the support and care of children eligible for Kin-GAP benefits. The bill would make related conforming changes. This bill, under the revised Kin-GAP Program provisions, also would require a county, at the time of the annual redetermination of state-funded Kin-GAP benefits, to determine whether a child was receiving federal AFDC-FC benefits before receiving Kin-GAP, while a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court. The bill would require the county to reassign these children to the county social worker for information regarding transition to the federal Kin-GAP program. By increasing county responsibilities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (11) Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. The program is funded by a combination of federal, state, and county funds. Under existing law, AFDC-FC benefits are available, with specified exceptions, on behalf of qualified children under 18 years of age. Existing law requires a county to annually redetermine AFDC-FC eligibility, as specified. This bill would require the department to amend its foster care state plan required under specified federal law, to extend AFDC-FC benefits, commencing January 1, 2012, to specified individuals up to 21 years of age, in accordance with a designated provision of federal law. The bill would repeal the existing annual redetermination requirement. This bill would extend AFDC-FC benefits to nonminor dependents, as specified, on and after January 1, 2012, including revising AFDC-FC rate provisions to apply to these individuals. This bill would require an annual review of a child's or nonminor's payment amount, as specified. The bill also would require a county to contribute to the cost of extending aid to eligible nonminor dependents who have reached 18 years of age and who are under the jurisdiction of the county, and to the cost of providing permanent placement services and administering the AFDC–FC program, as specified. The bill would provide that the county's total contribution for these purposes would not exceed the amount of savings realized by the county as a result of the implementation of the federally funded Kin-GAP Program. By expanding eligibility and duties under the county-administered AFDC-FC program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (12) Under existing law, in order to be eligible for AFDC-FC benefits, a child must be placed in one of 8 designated placements. This bill would add to the eligible AFDC-FC placements, with respect to an otherwise eligible youth over 18 years of age, a supervised independent living setting. By increasing county duties in administering the AFDC-FC program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (13) Under existing law, a minor between 16 and 18 years of age who is eligible for AFDC-FC benefits and who meets other specified requirements is eligible for certain transitional housing placement program services in a participating county. This bill, commencing January 1, 2012, would make a nonminor dependent who is eligible for AFDC-FC benefits also eligible for transitional housing benefits. This bill would revise existing provisions relating to the resolution of certain foster care overpayments to apply to Kin-GAP guardian homes and payments on behalf of nonminor dependents residing in supervised independent living settings. (14) Under existing law, a parent or caretaker relative is ineligible to receive CalWORKs aid when he or she has received aid for a cumulative total of 60 months. Existing law excludes from this calculation months when designated conditions exist. This bill, commencing January 1, 2012, would additionally exclude from the above calculation months when a recipient is a nonminor dependent participating in educational or training activities, as prescribed. Moneys from the General Fund are continuously appropriated to pay for a portion of CalWORKs aid grant costs, and for the state's share of AFDC-FC costs. This bill would provide that no appropriation from the General Fund would be made for the purposes of implementing these provisions. By increasing duties of counties administering the AFDC-FC program, this bill also would impose a state-mandated local program. (15) Existing law, the federal Social Security Act, provides for benefits for eligible beneficiaries, including survivorship and disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for, among others, blind and disabled children. The act authorizes a person or entity to be appointed as a representative payee for a beneficiary who cannot manage or direct the management of his or her money. Existing law also provides for State Supplemental Payments (SSP) in supplementation of SSI benefits. Existing law, the Foster Care Social Security and Supplemental Security Income Assistance Program, requires the county to apply to be appointed representative payee on behalf of a child beneficiary in its custody when no other appropriate party is available to serve. This bill would additionally require the county, when a child beneficiary reaches 18 years of age and elects to remain in the custody of the county as a nonminor dependent, to provide specified information to the youth regarding the process for becoming his or her own payee, and to assist the youth in this process, unless becoming his or her own payee is not in the youth's best interests, as specified. It would, as part of this process, express the intent of the Legislature that the county ensure that the nonminor receive direct payment of SSI benefits at least one month each year. Existing law requires every youth who is in foster care and nearing emancipation to be screened by the county for potential eligibility for SSI benefits, as prescribed. Existing law authorizes a county, under certain circumstances, to forgo a youth's federally funded AFDC-FC benefits in the month of application for SSI benefits, and instead to use state resources to fund the placement, in order to ensure that the youth meets all of the SSI eligibility requirements. This bill would establish similar requirements for a county child welfare agency, with respect to a nonminor dependent who has been approved for SSI payments but is receiving an AFDC-FC or Kin-GAP benefit that includes federal financial participation in an amount that exceeds the SSI payment, causing the SSI payment to be placed in suspense. By placing new duties on county child welfare agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (16) Existing law provides for the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) , to be established and administered by the State Department of Social Services or the county, for the purpose of benefiting children residing in foster homes by providing the stability and security of permanent homes. The AAP provides for the payment by the department and counties, of cash assistance to eligible families that adopt eligible children, and bases the amount of the payment on the needs of the child and the resources of the family to meet those needs. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements for the AAP, including that a child must be under 18 years of age, or under 21 years of age with a mental or physical disability that warrants continued assistance. This bill would additionally include children under 21 years of age who turned 16 years of age before the adoption assistance agreement became effective, and is involved in designated education or employment activities, or is incapable of engaging in these activities due to a medical condition. Payment of adoption assistance would be available for these individuals commencing January 1, 2012, as long as specified federal funds remain available and the state continues to exercise its option to extend payments up to 21 years of age, pursuant to the federal act. (17) Existing law requires the state, through the department and county welfare departments, to establish and support a public system of statewide child welfare services. Under existing law, the term "child welfare services" includes various services provided on behalf of children alleged to be the victims of child abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Existing law establishes the case plan as the foundation and central unifying tool in the provision of child welfare services. This bill would revise the definition of child welfare services to include transitional independent living services, as needed in connection with the provision of other permanent placement services. The bill would revise the requirements for the case plan, effective January 1, 2012, with respect to nonminor dependents, to address the developmental needs of young adults, as specified. The bill would also require the case plan to specify why a group home placement, if made, is necessary for the nonminor dependent's transition to independent living, and would require the nonminor dependent to participate and develop, and to sign, his or her case plan, commencing January 1, 2012. By increasing the duties of counties in preparing case plans, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would revise the definition of a whole family foster home, to include a home that provides foster care for a nonminor dependent parent and his or her child, for purposes of the AFDC-FC program. Effective January 1, 2012, the bill would require that the same rate be paid for the care and supervision of the child of a nonminor dependent as is paid for the child of a teen parent in a whole family foster home. The bill would make other provisions applicable to a teen parent, for purposes of the child welfare services program, also applicable to certain nonminor dependents living in a whole family foster home. Existing law limits child welfare services for voluntarily placed children to a period not to exceed 6 consecutive months, as specified. This bill would, instead, limit the services to a period not to exceed 180 days, and would make conforming changes. (18) (A) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 11402 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by SB 1214, that would become operative only if SB 1214 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is chaptered last. (B) The bill would also incorporate additional changes in Section 16501.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by SB 945 and SB 1353, to be operative only if this bill and one or both of the other bills are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is chaptered last. (19) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
