Asm. Karen Bass

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity to federal income tax laws, allow a charitable contribution deduction in computing tax liability. This bill would, for a cash contribution made after January 11, 2010, and before March 1, 2010, for the relief of victims in areas affected by the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, authorize taxpayers to treat that contribution as if it were made on December 31, 2009, and not in 2010. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

This measure would recognize the month of February 2010 as American Heart Month in California, would recognize February 4, 2010, as Wear Red Day in California, and would urge public support for Go Red for Women events.

(1) Upon a breach of the obligation of a mortgage or transfer of an interest in property, existing law requires the trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary to record in the office of the county recorder wherein the mortgaged or trust property is situated, a notice of default, and to mail the notice of default to the borrower named on the mortgage instrument. Existing law requires the notice to contain specified statements, including, but not limited to, those related to the borrower's legal rights, as specified. This bill would establish the Monitored Mortgage Workout (MMW) Program that would be offered to all borrowers to provide them with an opportunity to explore options to avoid foreclosure. This bill would require that any notice of default of a residential real property, as defined, sent to a borrower include a notice of the borrower's right to participate in the MMW Program as well as the documents that authorize the borrower to elect to participate in the MMW Program. This bill would provide for the appointment, by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate, of an administrator to implement the MMW Program. This bill would require the administrator of the MMW Program to provide quarterly reports to the Legislature with specified information regarding the performance of the MMW Program. This bill would provide that, if a borrower elects to participate in the MMW Program, no further action to foreclose upon the property may be instituted until the completion of the borrower's participation in the MMW Program. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would proclaim January 13, 2010, as Korean-American Day.

Existing law provides that after inmates are released from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, they are placed on parole, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish a pilot program at Folsom State Prison and at California State Prison, Los Angeles County for the purpose of providing each inmate at those facilities, prior to his or her release, a valid California identification card, as defined, issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) . This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in collaboration with the DMV, to allow the DMV to make biannual visits to the department's facilities to provide state-issued identification cards to inmates upon their release and to inmates who are eligible to be released or released on parole within 6 months. This bill would specify the department's duties in providing and obtaining the information necessary for eligible inmates to obtain identification cards. This bill would make its provisions operative on January 1, 2011.

Existing law requires that employers pay wages to their employees, twice per calendar month, on days designated in advance as regular paydays. However, employees defined as executive, administrative, or professional may be paid once per month. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to this provision.

Existing law provides for various sanctions to be imposed on persons who violate parole, including reincarceration. This bill would state the Legislature's intent that community sanctions be instituted for parole violators who present a lower risk to public safety, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement a "parole violation decisionmaking instrument" to provide guidelines for use by parole agents and the Board of Parole Hearings to determine the most appropriate sanctions for parole violators, as specified. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement these provisions. The bill would provide that its provisions do not limit the authority of counties to prosecute parolees who commit new crimes.

Existing law authorizes the Director of General Services to repair and alter buildings within the Capitol area, as defined. This bill would establish the State Capitol Sustainability Task Force consisting of the California State Senate, the California State Assembly, the Office of the Governor, and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor to coordinate, develop, and complete a state capitol sustainability initiative to further the sustainability practices at the State Capitol Building, the Legislative Office Building, and the State Capitol park grounds.

Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities attendant to oil and gas production. Under existing law, the supervisor may require an operator to implement a monitoring program, designed to detect releases to the soil and water, including both groundwater and surface water, for aboveground oil production tanks and facilities. This bill, instead, would require the supervisor to require an operator to implement that monitoring program.