(1) Existing law provides for a public postsecondary education system in this state. This system consists of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes these institutions to require that mandatory systemwide fees, among other fees, be paid by students at these institutions. This bill would establish the Middle Class Scholarship Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission. The bill would provide that, commencing with the 2012–13 fiscal year, undergraduate students enrolled at the University of California or the California State University would receive a scholarship grant award credit that, combined with other publicly funded student financial aid, as defined, received by an eligible student, would be 60% of the amount charged that student for mandatory systemwide fees in that fiscal year if the student meets the following conditions: annual household income does not exceed $150,000; is a resident of this state or exempt from paying nonresident tuition; files specified financial aid forms; makes timely application or applications for publicly funded student financial aid, as defined, for which he or she is eligible; and meets prescribed eligibility requirements of the Cal Grant Program, except as specified, and attains at least a 2.0 high school or community college grade point average. The bill would provide that a student whose annual household income exceeds $150,000, and who otherwise meets the requirements, would receive a scholarship grant award credit that is reduced in accordance with prescribed calculations. The bill would require, in order for students enrolled in their respective segments to remain eligible to receive financial aid under the bill, the University of California and the California State University to maintain their respective institutional need-based grant programs at a level that, at a minimum, is equivalent to the level maintained during the 2011–12 fiscal year. The bill would continuously appropriate from the General Fund $150,000,000 to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for allocation to community college districts based on calculations of full-time equivalent credit, to be expended, after consultation with student representatives as specified, for the provision of scholarship grants to students to reduce the impact of enrollment fees or to help cover the cost of textbooks and other educational expenses. The bill would require the Student Aid Commission to report the amount of the scholarship grant award credit for each student to the Franchise Tax Board, and to report the aggregate amount of scholarship grant award credits to the Department of Finance. The bill would authorize the Student Aid Commission to determine if sufficient funding is available for purposes of the bill in the 2012–13 fiscal year and subsequent fiscal years, and would further authorize the commission to reduce scholarships proportionately if it determines that sufficient funding is not available. (2) Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account, and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account. This bill, for fiscal years beginning with the 2012–13 fiscal year, would authorize an amount equal to a qualified student's scholarship grant award credit under the Middle Class Scholarship Program, as determined by the Student Aid Commission pursuant to the bill, to be refunded from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, thereby making an appropriation. (3) This bill would become operative only if AB 1500 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is chaptered. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 15 in the County of San Diego as the Tuskegee Airmen Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
Articles XIIIC and XIIID of the California Constitution generally require that assessments, fees, and charges be submitted to property owners for approval or rejection after the provision of written notice and the holding of a public hearing. Existing law, the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with Articles XIIIC and XIIID of the California Constitution and defines various terms for these purposes. This bill would additionally define the term "real property" for purposes of the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act.
Under the Public Utilities Act (the act) , the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The act requires the commission to review and adopt a procurement plan for each electrical corporation in accordance with specified elements, incentive mechanisms, and objectives. The act requires that an electrical corporation's proposed procurement plan include certain elements, including a showing that the electrical corporation will first meet its unmet needs through all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to identify all potentially achievable cost‑effective electricity efficiency savings and establish efficiency targets. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would require an electrical corporation, as defined, as part of the above-described energy efficiency targets, to replace with high-efficiency light bulbs up to 100 low-efficiency light bulbs in any street light poles, as defined, that the electrical corporation owns, at the same rate as the city, county, or city and county in which any of the electrical corporation's street light poles are located. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that this program be funded through existing collection mechanisms, and that the implementation of this program not result in an increase in any amount collected. This bill would also require an electrical corporation, for purposes of the state's investment in cost-effective energy efficiency programs and energy efficiency targets, to post on its Internet Web site specified information related to the electrical corporation's energy efficiency programs, including a description of the programs and their costs and benefits, the sources of funding, expenditures and investments, and eligibility information. By placing new requirements on electrical corporations, this bill would expand the definition of a crime and therefore create 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 measure would recognize June 12, 2012, as the 114th Anniversary of Philippine Independence, and would call upon the people of the state to observe the month of June with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities.
This measure would proclaim February 29, 2012, as Rare Disease Day in California.
This measure would designate the month of February 2012 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, and would encourage all Californians to observe Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with appropriate programs and activities that raise awareness about teen dating violence and promote healthy teen relationships in their communities.