Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to deny a private adoption agency a license, and to revoke an existing private adoption agency license, unless the applicant or licensee demonstrates that it employs either an executive director or a supervisor who has had at least 5 years of full-time social work employment in the field of child welfare, as described, 2 years of which have been spent performing adoption social work services, as specified. This bill would specify that these provisions of law do not require an executive director or supervisor of a private adoption agency to be licensed as a clinical social worker, provided the individual meets the requisite years of experience in social work employment and adoption social work services.
Sponsored bills
Existing law prohibits a person employed by or engaged in a public school to inflict, or cause to be inflicted, corporal punishment upon a pupil. This bill would authorize an educational provider, as defined, to use physical or mechanical restraint or seclusion, as defined, if specified conditions are met. The bill would require a seclusion room utilized by an educational provider to fulfill specified safety requirements. The bill would prohibit an educational provider from depriving a pupil of sleep, food, hydration, or access to bathroom facilities and from utilizing specified restraint and seclusion techniques, including, but not limited to, using chemical restraint, as defined, using an improvised mechanical restraint device, and using physical or mechanical restraint techniques that restrict breathing. The bill would require the State Department of Education to establish a mandatory system of data collection regarding the use of physical and mechanical restraint and seclusion that is consistent, timely, and publicly accessible. The bill would require an educational provider to annually report the data required to be collected to the department and would require the reported data to include the name of the educational provider and other specified information. To the extent that the data collection and reporting requirements would impose new duties on local educational agencies not required by federal law, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the data collection and reporting requirements be conducted in compliance with specified federal law, and impose no new duties or higher level of service on local educational agencies. 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 mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, a health insurer that provides maternity coverage may not restrict inpatient hospital benefits, as specified, and is required to provide notice of the maternity services coverage. This bill would require new forms for health insurance policies submitted to the department after January 1, 2012, to provide coverage for maternity services, as defined, except as specified. With respect to policy forms on file with the department as of January 1, 2012, the bill would require health insurers to submit to the department, on or before March 1, 2012, revised policy forms that provide coverage for maternity services and would require insurers to include that coverage in the corresponding policies that are issued, amended, or renewed following the department's approval of the revised forms, as specified. The bill would also specify findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding health care coverage for maternity services.
Existing law provides that a search warrant cannot be issued but upon probable cause, supported by affidavit, naming or describing the person to be searched or searched for, and particularly describing the property, thing or things, and the place to be searched. Existing law provides that a search warrant shall be executed and returned within 10 days after date of issuance. This bill would establish rules regarding tracking device search warrants. The bill would provide that the length of time that a tracking device may be used shall not exceed 45 days, except as specified. The bill would provide that an officer executing a tracking device search warrant shall not be required to knock and announce his or her presence before executing the warrant. The bill would provide that no later than 10 calendar days after the use of the tracking device has ended, the officer who executed the tracking device warrant shall serve a copy of the warrant on the person who was tracked or whose property was tracked. Because this bill would require local law enforcement officials to perform additional duties, 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
(1) The Enterprise Zone Act provides for the designation and oversight by the Department of Housing and Community Development of various types of economic development areas throughout the state, including enterprise zones, targeted tax areas, local agency military base recovery areas (LAMBRAs) , and Manufacturing Enhancement Areas, collectively known as geographically targeted economic development areas, or G-TEDAs. Pursuant to these provisions, qualifying entities in those areas may receive certain tax and regulatory incentives. This bill would rename the act as the California Economic and Community Development Zone Act. This bill would delete the provisions governing Manufacturing Enhancement Areas and targeted tax areas, and make various revisions in the requirements for designating and administering enterprise zones and LAMBRAs, and G-TEDAs collectively. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize a taxpayer to claim certain tax incentives for activities conducted in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA, including a credit for a specified percentage of wages paid during the taxable year to a qualified employee, as defined, who is employed by the taxpayer during the taxable year in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA. This bill would, with respect to employees hired before January 1, 2011, increase specified requirements for an individual to be a qualified employee for purposes of the enterprise zone hiring credits, and make other specified changes relating to the requirements for a taxpayer to take advantage of the credits. This bill would, with respect to employees hired after January 1, 2011, revise the enterprise zone hiring credit, so that the credit would be available only for a qualified employee for each of the first 3 years of employment and modify the applicable percentage amounts. This bill would impose new requirements for a taxpayer claiming this credit, including a registration requirement made under penalty of perjury. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also limit the carryover period to 15 years. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2013, impose a specified 50% overall limitation on these credits, as provided. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a credit in an amount equal to the amount of sales or use tax paid in connection with qualified property that is purchased and placed in service during the taxable year by a taxpayer engaged in a trade or business in an enterprise zone, targeted tax area, or LAMBRA, and allow unused credits to be carried over indefinitely to subsequent taxable years. This bill would require the taxpayer to register, as specified, a business in an enterprise zone, targeted tax area, or a LAMBRA before the taxpayer can claim a credit, and would limit the carryover period to 15 years. This bill would also impose a specified 50% overall limitation on these credits as provided. (4) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow deductions in the amount of net interest received by a taxpayer in payment of a debt of a person or entity engaged in a trade or business in an enterprise zone. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2013, limit the amount of these deductions to 50% of the net interest received by a taxpayer in payment of debt, as specified. (5) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow specified credits for hiring employees in a targeted tax area and manufacturing enhancement area. This bill would limit the credits to qualified employees hired by a qualified taxpayer before January 1, 2011. (6) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a deduction for a net operating loss of a person or entity engaged in business in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA, and any unused net operating losses to be a net operating loss carryover to other years, as specified. This bill would allow a deduction for those net operating losses only for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2011, but would allow any unused net operating losses to continue to be carried to other years as provided. (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) This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax 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. (9) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical and gas corporations. Existing law requires the commission, in cooperation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, air quality management districts and air pollution control districts, regulated electrical and gas corporations, and the motor vehicle industry, to evaluate and implement policies to promote the development of equipment and infrastructure needed to facilitate the use of electric power and natural gas to fuel low-emission vehicles. Existing law requires those policies to ensure that the costs and expenses of those programs are not passed through to electric or gas ratepayers unless the commission finds and determines that those programs are in the ratepayers' interest, as that term is defined. This bill would revise the definition of what is the ratepayer's interest and require that activities that benefit ratepayers be measured by the program's impact on rates and costs and benefits of the program from the perspective of ratepayers, determined by calculating a benefit versus cost ratio greater than one on a total portfolio basis.
The California Retail Food Code provides for the regulation of health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Local health agencies are primarily responsible for enforcing this law. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to improve the health of children in California by setting healthier standards for children's meals that are accompanied by toys and other incentive items.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city, county, or district to enter into contracts for various services, and, among other things, to include within the contract a time within which the whole or any specified portion of the work contemplated is to be completed. This bill would require the legislative body of a city, county, or district to review any contract with a private party with a total value of $250,000 or more, that contains an automatic renewal clause on or before the annual date by which the contract may be rescinded.
(1) The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, conflicts of interests of public officials, and the lobbying industry, and further establishes the Fair Political Practices Commission to administer and enforce the provisions of the act. Among its provisions, the act requires each campaign committee to file a statement of organization upon qualifying as a committee, and further requires elected officers, candidates, and committees to file periodic campaign statements reporting contributions received and expenditures made during specified reporting periods. Specifically, the act requires each elected officer, candidate, and committee to file a semiannual statement for each 6-month period, and further requires that preelection statements be filed at various specified times depending upon the type of election and the identity of the filer. The act also requires the filing of supplemental preelection statements, independent expenditure reports, and campaign statements by committees that make contributions of $10,000 or more in odd-numbered years. Under the act, a late contribution report or a late independent expenditure report is required to be filed within 24 hours if a contribution or independent expenditure is made before an election but after the closing date of the last campaign statement, and a committee is required to file a report online or electronically within 10 business days each time it makes a contribution or expenditure of $5,000 or more to support or oppose a ballot measure. This bill would instead require each elected state officer; each candidate for elective state office; and each elected officer, candidate, or committee that receives contributions or makes expenditures totaling $50,000 or more to file a quarterly statement for each calendar quarter in each odd-numbered year and a monthly statement for each calendar month in each even-numbered year, except that a committee that has received contributions of less than $500 and made expenditures of less than $500 in a reporting period would be permitted to file instead a statement of inactivity for that reporting period. The bill would also provide that there be only one type of preelection statement, to be referred to as a 16-day report, for all elections and all filers, to be filed no later than 16 days before an election for the period ending 21 days before the election. The bill would repeal provisions requiring the filing of supplemental preelection statements, independent expenditure reports, and odd-numbered year committee statements, and the bill would require a 90-day contribution report or a 90-day independent expenditure report to be filed within 24 hours if the contribution or independent expenditure is made within 90 days before the date of an election. Under the bill, a committee would be required to file a report online or electronically within 24 hours each time it makes a contribution or expenditure of $25,000 or more to support or oppose a ballot measure. In addition, the bill would require specified elected officers, candidates, and committees to file a copy of each campaign statement with the elections official of any jurisdiction in which the filer made expenditures of $25,000 or more during the reporting period. (2) Existing law requires that each filer of a campaign statement include in the campaign statement specified information, including the amount of contributions received or expenditures made during the reporting period and specified identifying information about each person who has made contributions totaling $100 or more. This bill would also require that each filer include in the campaign statement specified information about a 3rd party if the filer knows or has reason to know that contributions from 2 or more persons have been made at the behest of that 3rd party and the cumulative amount of those contributions, plus the amounts the 3rd party has contributed to the filer directly, if any, equals or exceeds the maximum amount that the 3rd party would be permitted to contribute to the filer. (3) Existing law prohibits a local government agency from enacting an ordinance imposing filing requirements additional to or different from those imposed by the act, unless the additional or different filing requirements apply only to a candidate or ballot measure being voted upon only in that jurisdiction or to a city or county general purpose committee active only in that jurisdiction. This bill would also permit a local government agency to enact an ordinance imposing additional or different filing requirements if those requirements apply only to a general purpose committee that spends $25,000 or more in the jurisdiction of that local government agency. (4) Existing law requires that every campaign committee have a treasurer who is responsible for authorizing any expenditure made by or on behalf of the committee. The treasurer is required to be designated on the committee's statement of organization, and a committee cannot accept a contribution or make an expenditure at a time when there is a vacancy in the office of the treasurer. This bill would require each treasurer, prior to his or her designation as a treasurer or within 15 business days after that designation, to complete an online certification course that addresses the statutes and regulations governing the financing of campaigns and the duties and responsibilities of a treasurer. The bill would permit the Commission to charge each applicant for certification a fee not to exceed $50 for the costs of administering the certification program, which could be paid from campaign funds, and the bill would require each treasurer to verify under penalty of perjury that he or she has been certified under the certification program. The bill would also require a treasurer to renew his or her certification every 2 years and would further require the Secretary of State to maintain on his or her Internet Web site a list of each treasurer who is currently certified. (5) Existing law provides that regulation of the operation of automatic dialing-announcing devices, as defined, is within the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission. This bill would permit the Fair Political Practices Commission to regulate the content of a prerecorded telephonic message that is disseminated by means of an automatic dialing-announcing device and that advocates support of, or opposition to, a candidate, ballot measure, or both. (6) Existing law imposes various requirements on slate mailers, defined as mass mailings that support or oppose multiple candidates or ballot measures, and on slate mailer organizations that produce and distribute slate mailers. Specifically, existing law requires a slate mailer organization to file a semiannual campaign statement for each 6-month period. In addition, existing law requires that each slate mailer disclose specified information, in a specified manner, about the slate mailer organization and identify each candidate and ballot measure that has paid to appear in the slate mailer. This bill would instead require a slate mailer organization to file a quarterly statement for each calendar quarter in each odd-numbered year and a monthly statement for each calendar month in each even-numbered year, except that a slate mailer organization that has received payments of less than $500 and made expenditures of less than $500 in a reporting period would be permitted to file instead a statement of inactivity for that reporting period. The bill would also permit the Commission to impose, by regulation, other requirements regarding the contents of a slate mailer. (7) Existing law imposes penalties on a person who files a campaign statement or report after the applicable deadline in the amount of $10 per day up to a maximum of $100 or the amount being reported in the statement or report, whichever is greater. This bill would increase those penalties to $25 per day up to a maximum of $750 or 150% of the amount reported in the statement or report, whichever is greater. The bill would also make those penalties applicable to a campaign statement or report submitted on behalf of a committee that does not have a currently certified treasurer. In addition, the bill would prohibit a candidate or elected officer from using campaign funds to pay a fine imposed on him or her for tardy filing of a statement of economic interests. (8) Existing law requires the Secretary of State to develop online or electronic filing processes for the filing of campaign statements and reports, and further requires that candidates, general purpose committees, and other entities file required statements and reports online or electronically if the total amount of contributions or expenditures being reported exceed a specified threshold. Existing law prohibits a fee or charge from being collected for the filing of a campaign statement or report, except as provided for under the act. This bill would require the Secretary of State and the Commission to jointly work toward the development of a single, statewide electronic filing system that consolidates the filing of all state and local campaign statements and reports into one searchable database that meets specified criteria. The bill would require the Secretary of State and the Commission to develop a feasibility study report for the electronic filing system by December 31, 2013, to develop a funding plan, to engage in fundraising, and to complete work on the electronic filing system by December 31, 2017. In addition, the bill would permit the Secretary of State to collect a fee or charge for the filing of a campaign statement or report required under the act, provided that the amounts collected are used only for, and do not exceed the costs of, development and maintenance of the electronic filing system. (9) Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. (10) 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. (11) The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.