(1) Existing law provides that a person may pass real property to a beneficiary at death by various methods including by will, intestate succession, trust, and titling the property in joint tenancy, among others. This bill would, until January 1, 2015, create the revocable transfer on death deed (revocable TOD deed) , as defined, which would transfer real property on the death of its owner without a probate proceeding. The bill would require that a person have testamentary capacity to make or revoke the deed and would require that the deed be in a statutory form provided for this purpose. The revocable TOD deed must be signed, dated, acknowledged, and recorded, as specified, to be effective. The bill would provide, among other things, that the deed, during the owner's life, does not affect his or her ownership rights and, specifically, is part of the owner's estate for the purpose of Medi-Cal eligibility and reimbursement. The bill would void a revocable TOD deed if, at the time of the owner's death, the property is titled in joint tenancy or as community property with right of survivorship. The bill would establish priorities for creditor claims against the owner and the beneficiary of the deed in connection with the property transferred and limits on the liability of the beneficiary. The bill would establish a process for contesting the transfer of real property by a revocable TOD deed. The bill would also make conforming and technical changes. The bill would require the California Law Revision Commission to study and make recommendations regarding the revocable TOD deed to the Legislature by January 1, 2014. (2) Existing law provides that a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent is not entitled to specified property, interests, or benefits, including any gifts of personal property made in view of impending death. This bill would specify that a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent is not entitled generally to property and interests that are transferred outside of probate, including real property transferred by a revocable TOD deed. (3) Existing law establishes simplified procedures for dealing with a decedent's estate valued under $100,000, including authorizing the successor of the decedent to collect and distribute property due the decedent without letters of administration or awaiting probate of a will. Existing law provides that a beneficiary who receives real or personal property under these circumstances, as specified, may be liable to the estate if probate proceedings are subsequently commenced. Existing law provides, in this context, that a spouse has liability for the debts of a deceased spouse if the decedent's property is in the control of the surviving spouse. Existing law permits a court judgment to enforce liability in these instances only to the extent necessary to protect the heirs, devisees, and creditors of the decedent. This bill would delete the reference to court judgment and provide instead that the personal representative of the estate is permitted to enforce liability only to the extent necessary to protect the heirs, devisees, and creditors of the decedent.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides that no handgun ammunition vendor, as defined, shall sell, offer for sale, or display for sale, any handgun ammunition in a manner that allows that ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser without the assistance of the vendor or employee thereof. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law requires, subject to exceptions, commencing February 1, 2011, that handgun ammunition vendors obtain a thumbprint and other information from ammunition purchasers, as specified. Existing law provides, subject to exceptions, that commencing February 1, 2011, the delivery or transfer of ownership of handgun ammunition may only occur in a face-to-face transaction, with the deliverer or transferor being provided bona fide evidence of identity of the purchaser or other transferee. Violations of any of the above provisions are misdemeanors, some with specified penalties. This bill would repeal those provisions.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations, as defined. The existing Public Utilities Act prohibits any gas corporation from beginning the construction of, among other things, a line, plant, or system, or of any extension thereof, without having first obtained from the commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require that construction (certificate of public convenience and necessity) . Existing law authorizes certain public utilities to condemn property, as prescribed, but prohibits specified public utilities that offer competitive services from condemning any property for the purpose of competing with another entity in the offering of those competitive services, unless the commission finds, pursuant to a petition or complaint filed by the public utility, in accordance with specified provisions that such an action would serve the public interest. This bill would provide that the existing prohibition upon specified public utilities condemning property if they offer competitive services does not apply to a gas corporation seeking to develop a natural gas storage facility in a natural gas reservoir if the need for the storage project at the proposed location was determined in an evidentiary hearing before the commission pursuant to an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. (2) The Eminent Domain Law provides the procedure for the exercise of the power of eminent domain by governmental entities and public utilities and authorizes the plaintiff to make an application to the court to take possession of property prior to judgment and sets forth the procedures the plaintiff must follow. Existing law authorizes a court to issue an order of possession upon an ex parte application by a water, wastewater, gas, electric, or telephone utility, as the court deems appropriate under the circumstances of the case, if the court finds that (A) an emergency exists and as a consequence the utility has an urgent need for possession of the property, and (B) an emergency order of possession will not displace or unreasonably affect any person in actual and lawful possession of the property to be taken or the larger parcel of which it is a part. Existing law authorizes a defendant or occupant of the property to move for relief from an order of possession issued on behalf of a utility because of an emergency and authorizes the court to modify, stay, or vacate the order upon consideration of the relevant facts and any objections raised, and upon completion of a hearing, if requested. This bill would authorize a court to issue an order for possession upon an ex parte application by a water, wastewater, gas, electrical, or telephone utility if the court finds that (A) the commission has issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the project, (B) the need for the proposed project at the proposed location was determined through an evidentiary hearing before the commission pursuant to an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, and (C) the order of possession will not displace or unreasonably affect any person in actual and lawful possession of the property to be taken or the larger parcel of which it is a part. The existing right of a defendant or occupant of the property to move for relief would be applicable to any order of possession issued pursuant to this authority. This bill would provide that an order of possession may be served by mail upon an owner or occupant who previously appeared in or was provided with notice pursuant to the notice procedures of the commission in a prior proceeding of the commission acting upon an application by the plaintiff for a certificate of public convenience and necessity as to the project for which possession of the property is required.
Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. This bill would require a standing committee with jurisdiction over a state agency proposing to adopt a regulation with a gross cost in excess of $10,000,000 to hold an informational hearing regarding the proposed regulation.
Existing law, generally, 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, and on every limited partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited liability company registered, qualified to transact business, or doing business in this state, as specified. This bill would, for the first 10 taxable years of a corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited liability company that is a small business, as defined, and that first commences business operations on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2016, reduce that minimum tax, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The State Assistance for Fire Equipment Act authorizes the Secretary of Emergency Management to acquire specified firefighting apparatus and equipment for resale to a local agency, as defined, that provides fire suppression services or a fire company. Existing law also establishes the State Assistance for Fire Equipment Account, a continuously appropriated fund, for purposes of the act. Existing law requires the secretary to consult with a specified committee before adopting regulations implementing the act. This bill would annually appropriate $45,600,000 of revenue received by the state from the accessing of oil and gas reserves located beneath state coastal waters, generally known as the "T-Ridge Project," for firefighting purposes, including, but not limited to, the purchase of firefighting and rescue vehicles and equipment, vegetation management and defensible space projects, and specified training courses and materials, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would also require the secretary to consult with additional specified individuals involved in firefighting before adopting certain regulations.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, which, among other things, provides for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools in the state. Existing law establishes the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to regulate private postsecondary institutions through the powers granted, and the duties imposed, by the act. This bill would prohibit the bureau, for the period July 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, inclusive, from enforcing the act against institutions that offer flight instruction or institutions that offer Federal Aviation Administration certified educational programs in aircraft maintenance. The bill would also require those institutions to notify the bureau if they operate during that period. (2) The act prohibits institutions, as defined, from performing various actions. This bill would prohibit an institution from offering an unaccredited doctoral degree program without disclosing to prospective students that the degree program is unaccredited, and any known limitation of the unaccredited degree, including, but not limited to, whether the degree is recognized for licensure or certification in other states. (3) The act prohibits an ability-to-benefit student, defined as a student who does not have a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or a recognized equivalent of that certificate, from enrolling in an institution unless the student achieves a specified score on an independently administered examination from a specified list of examinations prescribed by the United States Department of Education that demonstrates that the student may benefit from the education and training being offered. This bill would authorize the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to publish its own list of acceptable examinations if the United States Department of Education does not have a list of relevant examinations that pertain to the intended occupational training. (4) The act requires specified private postsecondary institutions to refund 100% of the amount paid for institutional charges, less specified expenses, if notice of cancellation is made through attendance at the first class session, or the 7th class day after enrollment, whichever is later. This bill would change the 2nd deadline for notice of cancellation from the 7th class day after enrollment to the 7th day after enrollment. (5) Existing law defines "graduates employed in the field," for purposes of the act, as graduates who are gainfully employed within 6 months of graduation in a position for which the skills obtained through the education and training provided by the institution are required or provided a significant advantage to the graduate in obtaining the position. This bill would revise this definition to remove skills obtained that have provided a significant advantage to the graduate in obtaining the position, and include skills that are utilized to perform the purpose or objective of the position or the major responsibilities of the position. (6) Existing law appropriates $580,000 from the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, for the purpose of funding 5 private postsecondary education specialist and senior specialist positions. This bill would require those positions to be permanent, full-time positions to perform work in conformity with the classification specifications as directed by the bureau chief. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would designate the first week of March of each year as Cuss Free Week.
Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing and makes a violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires a licensee renewing his or her license to submit proof to the board that during a specified time the licensee has been informed of developments in the registered nursing field either by pursuing a continuing education course offered by a provider approved by the board or by other means deemed equivalent by the board. Existing law requires the board to establish, by regulation, standards for continuing education. Existing law requires these standards to make a variety of alternative forms of continuing education available to licensees. Existing law requires the content of all courses of continuing education to be relevant to the practice of nursing. This bill would provide that continuing education courses, as specified, that advance or promote labor organizing on behalf of a union, or that advance or promote statutory or regulatory changes, political candidates, political advocacy, or political strategy shall not be considered content relevant to the practice of nursing and shall not be acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal. The bill would also prohibit an approved provider from representing that such a continuing education course is acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal and would require the board, subject to specified procedural requirements, to withdraw its approval of a provider that violates that requirement for no less than 5 years, as specified. Because a violation of these requirements by a provider would constitute a crime, the 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 declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would recognize the Lunar New Year 4708 celebration.