Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the California Homes and Jobs Act of 2013. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that revenues from this fee be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and Community Development for deposit in the California Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund may be expended for supporting affordable housing, administering housing programs, and the cost of periodic audits, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce compliance with applicable prevailing wage requirements for specified public works projects that are funded by state bond proceeds. Moneys collected for this purpose are continuously appropriated to the department from the State Public Works Enforcement Fund to cover the costs of these monitoring and enforcement duties. This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce prevailing wage requirements for construction contracts for certain public works projects over $1,000,000, that are funded, in whole or in part, by the bill. The bill would authorize the department to charge each person or entity awarding a construction contract for the reasonable and directly related costs of the monitoring and enforcement activities, and would require the department to deposit the moneys collected into the State Public Works Enforcement Fund. The bill would exempt projects with a collective bargaining agreement with a mechanism for resolution of wage disputes from this requirement. By establishing a new source of revenue for a continuously appropriated fund, this bill 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
The Corporation Tax Law imposes taxes on, or measured by, income, as specified. The Corporation Tax Law imposes a minimum franchise tax of $800, except as provided, on every corporation incorporated in this state, qualified to transact intrastate business in this state, or doing business in this state. Existing law imposes an annual tax in an amount equal to the minimum franchise tax on every limited partnership, limited liability company, and limited liability partnership doing business in this state. In addition, existing law requires every limited partnership that has filed a certificate with the Secretary of State and every foreign limited partnership that has registered with the Secretary of State, every limited liability company if the articles of organization have been accepted by, or a certificate of registration has been issued by, the Secretary of State, and every registered limited liability partnership and every foreign limited liability partnership that has registered with the Secretary of State, to pay an annual tax in an amount equal to the minimum franchise tax. This bill would reduce the minimum franchise tax to $200 for a dormant business entity and to $50 for an inactive business entity, as specified. This bill would define "dormant business entity" as a business entity that is organized under state law or has qualified to transact intrastate business in this state and that certifies under penalty of perjury with its return for the taxable year that it was not doing business in this state. This bill defines "inactive business entity" as a business entity, other than a limited partnership or a limited liability partnership, that is organized under state law or has qualified to transact intrastate business and that reasonably believes that it will not be doing business in this state for that taxable year. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill 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. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law requires each pupil completing grade 12 to satisfy certain requirements as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation from high school. These requirements include the successful passage of the high school exit examination and the completion of designated coursework in grades 9 to 12, inclusive. The coursework requirements include the completion of at least 2 courses in mathematics. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt additional coursework requirements. This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district that requires more than 2 courses in mathematics for graduation to award a pupil up to one mathematics course credit for successfully completing an approved computer science course, as provided.
(1) The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that all meetings of a legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless it is operated by an entity governed by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, in which case the charter school would be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. (2) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee unless the records are exempt from disclosure. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the California Public Records Act. (3) Existing law prohibits certain public officials, including, but not limited to, state, county, or district officers or employees, from being financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members, except as provided. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to those provisions. (4) The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires every state agency and local governmental agency to adopt a conflict-of-interest code, formulated at the most decentralized level possible, that requires designated employees of the agency to file statements of economic interest disclosing any investments, business positions, interests in real property, or sources of income that may foreseeably be affected materially by any governmental decision made or participated in by the designated employee by virtue of his or her position. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the Political Reform Act of 1974. (5) This bill would state various exceptions and clarifications regarding the applicability of the acts described above in paragraphs (1) to (4) , inclusive, including, among others, that an employee of a charter school is not disqualified from serving as a member of the governing body of the charter school because of that employment status, and that a member of the governing body of a charter school is authorized to provide a loan to, or sign a guarantor agreement relative to a line of credit for, the charter school, as specified. (6) This bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2015.
Under existing law, except as specified, a person is liable for constructive invasion of privacy when a person attempts to capture, in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person, any type of visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression, through the use of a visual or auditory enhancing device, of another person engaging in a personal or familial activity under circumstances in which the other person had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Existing law subjects a person who commits a constructive invasion of privacy to specified damages and civil fines. This bill would expand a person's potential liability for constructive invasion of privacy, by removing the limitation that the person use a visual or auditory enhancing device, and would instead make the person liable when using any device to engage in the above-described unlawful activity. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1708.8 of the Civil Code proposed by AB 1256 that would become operative if this bill and AB 1256 are both enacted and this bill is enacted last.
(1) Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, the duties as State Registrar relating to the uniform administration of provisions relating to vital records and health statistics. Existing law requires the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to, upon request and payment of the required fee, supply to an applicant a certified copy of the record of a birth, fetal death, death, marriage, or marriage dissolution registered with the official. Existing law authorizes the issuance of certain records without payment of the fee. This bill would, on or after July 1, 2015, require each local registrar or county recorder to issue, without a fee, a certified record of live birth to any person who can verify his or her status as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth, as defined. The bill would require a homeless services provider, as described, that has knowledge of a person's housing status to verify the person's status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth for purposes of this provision. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to develop an affidavit attesting to an applicant's status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth, and would provide that the affidavit is sufficient verification for purposes of obtaining the certified record of live birth, as specified. By imposing additional duties on county employees, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue an identification card to any person attesting to the true full name, correct age, and other identifying data as certified by the applicant for the identification card, and authorizes the assessment of related fees. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2016, require the department to issue, without a fee, an original or replacement identification card to a person who can verify his or her status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth, as defined. The bill would authorize a homeless services provider, as described, that has knowledge of a person's housing status to verify the person's status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth for purposes of this provision. 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.
Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to pupil records to any person without parental consent or without a judicial order, except to specified persons under certain circumstances, including to a contractor or consultant with a legitimate educational interest who has a formal written agreement or contract with the school district regarding the provision of outsourced institutional services or functions by the contractor or consultant. This bill would authorize a local educational agency, as defined, pursuant to a policy adopted by its governing board or governing body, as appropriate, to enter into a contract with a 3rd party, as defined, to provide services for the digital storage, management, and retrieval of pupil records, as defined, or to provide digital educational software, or both. The bill would require the contract to include specified provisions, including a statement that the pupil records continue to be the property of and under the control of the local educational agency, a description of the actions the 3rd party will take to ensure the security and confidentiality of pupil records, and a description of how the local educational agency and the 3rd party will jointly ensure compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The bill would require that a contract that fails to comply with the requirements of this bill be rendered void if certain conditions are satisfied. The bill would provide that, if these provisions are in conflict with the terms of a contract in effect before January 1, 2015, the provisions shall not apply to the local educational agency or the 3rd party subject to that agreement until the expiration, amendment, or renewal of the agreement.
Existing federal law, the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011, requires that each child in foster care under the responsibility of the state who has attained 16 years of age receive without cost a copy of any consumer report pertaining to the child each year until the child is discharged from care, and assistance in interpreting and resolving any inaccuracies in the report. Existing law provides for child welfare services, which are public social services directed toward, among other purposes, protecting and promoting the welfare of all children, including those in foster care placement. Existing law declares the policy of the Legislature that all children in foster care be free from abuse. Existing law requires a county welfare department, county probation department, or the State Department of Social Services to request a consumer credit disclosure on behalf of a child in a foster care placement in the county when the child reaches his or her 16th birthday, and each year thereafter while the child is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, as specified. This bill would instead require a county welfare department, county probation department, or the State Department of Social Services to inquire of each of the 3 major credit reporting agencies as to whether a child described above has any consumer credit history, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, if it makes the inquiry, to notify the county welfare department or the county probation department in the county having jurisdiction over the child of the results of that inquiry. The bill would also provide that if an inquiry performed pursuant to these provisions indicates that a child has a consumer credit history with any major credit reporting agency, the responsible county welfare department or county probation department is required to request a consumer credit report from that agency. The bill would also require the State Department of Social Services to provide specified information related to the implementation of these provisions to the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and the appropriate legislative policy committees by no later than February 1, 2016. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
(1) The California Constitution provides that a person unable to understand English who is charged with a crime has the right to an interpreter throughout the proceedings. Existing statutory law requires, in any civil or criminal action, as specified, a sign language interpreter to be appointed for a party or witness who is deaf or hearing-impaired and generally requires the payment of these court interpreters' fees to be a charge against the court. Existing law generally requires court interpreters' fees to be paid by the litigants in civil cases, as directed by the court, but further requires the fees of an interpreter to be waived for a party who needs an interpreter and appears in forma pauperis. This bill would expressly authorize the court to provide a court interpreter in any civil action or proceeding at no cost to the parties, regardless of the income of the parties. The bill would require interpreters to be provided in accordance with a specified order of priority, until sufficient funds are appropriated to provide an interpreter to every party who needs one. (2) Existing law requires, in any action or proceeding under specified provisions of the Family Code relating to domestic violence, an interpreter to be provided by the court for a party who does not proficiently speak or understand the English language to interpret the proceedings in a language that the party understands and to assist communication between the party and his or her attorney, except that a court is authorized to issue prescribed orders ex parte without an interpreter. Existing law requires the fees of these interpreters to be paid by the parties, except that these fees shall be waived for parties who need an interpreter and appear in forma pauperis. This bill would repeal those provisions.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve an extension of a department loan, the subordination of a department loan to new debt, or an investment of tax credit equity under specified rental housing finance programs, subject to specified conditions. This bill would include within these provisions the reinstatement of a qualifying unpaid matured loan, as defined. This bill would require a qualifying unpaid matured loan reinstated under these provisions to be treated as if its term has been extended from the expired due date for purposes of calculating obligations of the borrower to the department.