Asm. Frank Bigelow

This measure would recognize April 17, 2016, as World Hemophilia Day.

Existing sales and use tax laws impose taxes on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, and provides various exemptions from the taxes imposed by those laws. Under existing law, a sale or purchase of tangible personal property pursuant to a layaway agreement or raincheck, or under certain conditions, is considered a sale or purchase only when both payment and delivery are complete. This bill would exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of, qualified disaster preparedness products sold or purchased during the 1-day period beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the 2nd Saturday in October 2017, and ending at 12:00 midnight of that day, or for which a layaway agreement is entered into, a raincheck is issued, or other specified orders are placed, during this period, as specified. This bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2018. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes cities and counties to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. This bill would specify that this exemption does not apply to local sales and use taxes or transactions and use taxes. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The California Disaster Assistance Act generally provides that the state share for disaster project allocations to local agencies is no more than 75% of total state eligible costs, except for specified events for which the state share is up to 100% of state eligible costs. This bill would add the forest fires that occurred in the County of Calaveras in 2015 to the list of events for which the state share of state eligible cost is up to 100%. This bill would incorporate changes to Section 8686 of the Government Code proposed by both this bill and SB 937, which would become operative only if both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal, state, and county funds. Under existing law, a recipient of CalWORKs is required to participate in welfare-to-work activities for a specified number of hours each week as a condition of eligibility for aid. Existing law authorizes certain welfare-to-work participants to engage in adult basic education in satisfaction of these work requirements. Existing law establishes the Cal-Learn Program, under which a recipient of CalWORKs aid who is under 19 years of age and who does not have a high school diploma or its equivalent is required to participate in the program as a student attending school on a full-time basis. Existing law provides for a supplement to, or a reduction in, a Cal-Learn participant's aid grant based on his or her performance in school. This bill would create the CalWORKs Educational Opportunity and Attainment Program to provide CalWORKs recipients with a monthly education incentive grant of $100 for attainment of a high school diploma or its equivalent, $200 for attainment of an associate's degree or career technical education program, or $300 for attainment of a bachelor's degree, if the educational program was completed while the recipient was receiving CalWORKs assistance. The bill would require the education incentive grant to be provided on an ongoing basis if the recipient meets certain eligibility criteria. The bill would require a recipient, when applying for an education bonus, to submit evidence of completion of the educational program to the county. The bill would require the county, upon verification of completion of the educational program, to certify that the recipient is eligible for an education incentive grant and ensure that the recipient's monthly cash grant is increased. By imposing additional administrative duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the CalWORKs Recipients Education Program in the California Community Colleges. Existing law requires, to the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act, a community college district to receive funding for purposes of providing special services for CalWORKs recipients, including job placement and workstudy. This bill would appropriate $20,000,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to fund services provided under that 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) Under existing law, a hunting license grants the privilege to take birds and mammals. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue a hunting license for a term of one year, as provided, upon payment of a fee, to eligible residents and nonresidents. Existing law requires the department to issue a reduced fee hunting license for a term of one year, as provided, upon payment of a reduced fee, to a disabled veteran or recovering service member, as specified. Existing law requires these fees to be adjusted annually according to a specified index. Under existing law, the department issues tags, validations, and other entitlements upon payment of specified fees that are required in addition to a valid hunting license to take specified birds and mammals for purposes other than commercial purposes. This bill would instead require the department to issue a free hunting license, upon application to the department, to a disabled veteran or recovering service member and would require the department to issue a reduced fee hunting license, upon application and payment of a fee of $5, to a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States who was honorably discharged. The bill would prohibit the reduced hunting license fee from being adjusted pursuant to the specified index. The bill would require the department to reduce the fee required for a tag, validation, or other entitlement by 50% for a person who receives a reduced fee hunting license for veterans and would prohibit the department from charging a person who receives a free hunting license for disabled veterans or recovering service members a fee for these entitlements. (2) Existing law requires every person 16 years of age or older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first obtain a sport fishing license for that purpose and to have that license on his or her person or in his or her immediate possession when engaged in carrying out any activity authorized by the license. Existing law requires the department to issue a sport fishing license for the period of a calendar year, as provided, upon payment of a specified fee, to eligible residents and nonresidents. Existing law requires the department to issue a reduced fee sport fishing license for the period of a calendar year upon payment of a reduced fee to a disabled veteran or recovering service member, as specified. Existing law requires these fees to be adjusted annually according to a specified index. Under existing law, the department issues sport fishing report cards and validations upon payment of specified fees that authorize various activities relating to the taking and possession of amphibians, reptiles, and fish for purposes other than profit. This bill would instead require the department to issue a free sport fishing license, upon application to the department, to a disabled veteran or recovering service member and would require the department to issue a reduced fee sport fishing license, upon application and payment of a fee of $5, to a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States who was honorably discharged. The bill would prohibit this reduced fishing license fee from being adjusted pursuant to the specified index. The bill would require the department to reduce the fee required to obtain a sport fishing report card, validation, or other entitlement by 50% for a person who receives a reduced fee sport fishing license for veterans and would prohibit the department from charging a person who receives a free sport fishing license for disabled veterans or recovering service members a fee for these entitlements.

Existing law requires the state to have the primary financial responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state responsibility areas, as defined. Existing law requires that a fire prevention fee be charged on each habitable structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, collected annually by the State Board of Equalization, in accordance with specified procedures, and specifies that the annual fee shall be due and payable 30 days from the date of assessment by the state board. Existing law authorizes a petition for redetermination of the fee to be filed within 30 days after service of a notice of determination, as specified. This bill would extend the time when the fire prevention fee is due and payable from 30 to 60 days from the date of assessment by the State Board of Equalization and would authorize the petition for redetermination to be filed within 60 days after service of the notice of determination, as specified.

Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors to provide by ordinance for the reassessment of property that is damaged or destroyed, without fault on the part of the assessee, by a major misfortune or calamity, upon the application of the assessee or upon the action of the county assessor with the board's approval. With respect to certain counties that have adopted reassessment ordinances and have been declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency as a result of certain events, existing law provides for state allocations of the estimated amounts of the reductions in property tax revenues resulting in certain fiscal years from reassessments under those ordinances. Existing law also continuously appropriates, without regard to fiscal years, moneys in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties for purposes of funding these state allocations. This bill would, until January 1, 2018, and upon appropriation for this purpose, provide for similar state allocations with respect to property tax revenue reductions resulting from a reassessment for damages incurred within the County of Calaveras, which was declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency due to the wildfires that occurred on and after September 9, 2015. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Calaveras. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention to implement various fire prevention programs intended to protect forest resources and prevent uncontrollable wildfires. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires that all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for greenhouse gas emissions reduction activities. This bill would provide that an amount not to exceed $200,000,000 from the fund shall be made available to the department, upon appropriation, for specified activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state caused by uncontrolled forest fires. The bill would authorize the department to use these funds to provide (1) payments to local governmental entities that carry out fire prevention activities; (2) incentives for actions by private parties to reduce the risk or intensity of wildfires or improve the resiliency of lands prone to wildfires; and (3) funding for the creation and implementation of partnerships between the department and the federal government to reduce the risk or intensity of wildfires or improve the resiliency of federal lands prone to wildfires. The bill would require the department to develop an accounting system to demonstrate that each project awarded funding will provide a long-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to prioritize and fund projects based on the extent to which a project will maximize certain cobenefits, as prescribed.

Existing law establishes the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as a special fund in the State Treasury, and requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the fund and available upon appropriation for purposes relating to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This bill would provide that up to $20,000,000 shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for market development payments to glass container manufacturers in an amount of $50 per ton of state-generated cullet, as defined, utilized for manufacturing in the state to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions not otherwise required by statute or regulation.