Asm. Richard Bloom

Existing law generally prohibits a publicly owned or operated transit system from procuring a transit bus whose weight on any single axle exceeds 20,500 pounds. Existing law, until January 1, 2015, exempts from this prohibition a transit system that is procuring a new bus that is of the same or lesser weight than the bus it is replacing, or if it is incorporating a new fleet class into its inventory and its governing board makes certain findings. This bill would extend the operation of those exceptions until January 1, 2016, and would also, until January 1, 2016, authorize a transit system to procure a transit bus that exceeds 20,500 pounds if it is incorporating a new fleet class expansion.

This measure would declare August 2014 as Valley Fever Awareness Month.

(1) Existing law, until July 1, 2015, authorizes a county, city and county, or city to establish a capital investment incentive program, pursuant to which the county, city and county, or city is authorized to pay a capital investment incentive amount, as defined, that does not exceed the amount of property tax derived from that portion of the assessed value of a qualified manufacturing facility that exceeds $25,000,000, to a proponent of a qualified manufacturing facility. Existing law defines a "proponent" as a party and requires a party to meet certain requirements, including that the party will be the fee owner of the qualified manufacturing facility upon the completion of that facility, as provided. This bill would, until July 1, 2015, additionally authorize the party to be the lessee or the occupant under a government-owned contractor-operator enhanced use lease agreement of the qualified manufacturing facility upon the completion of that facility. (2) Existing law, the Corporation Tax Law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2030, allows, with regard to the manufacture of a new advanced strategic aircraft for the United States Air Force, a credit against the taxes imposed under that law in an amount equal to 1712% of qualified wages, as defined, paid or incurred with respect to qualified full-time employees, as multiplied by an annual full-time equivalent ratio, by the qualified taxpayer, defined as a taxpayer that is a major first-tier subcontractor with regard to the manufacture of that aircraft. This bill would define a qualified taxpayer to also include a prime contractor awarded a prime contract to manufacture a new advanced strategic aircraft for the United States Air Force. The bill would limit this credit by providing that the aggregate number of total annual full-time equivalents, as defined, of all qualified taxpayers may not exceed 1,100. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would state the Legislature's support for the memorandum of understanding for establishing strategic partnerships between California and Israel.

This measure would urge the United States Department of Transportation and other relevant federal entities to (1) safeguard communities and environmentally sensitive areas from rail accidents involving transportation of crude oil by expediting rail safety reforms, (2) prioritize safety considerations over cost-effectiveness in deliberations about improving the transport of crude oil by rail, (3) mandate, at a minimum, the best practices explained in a 2014 safety initiative, as specified and (4) partner with the Canadian Transportation Agency to improve safety of the North American railroad tank car fleet by swiftly adopting a stricter design standard, and by retrofitting or phasing out tank cars that do not meet that standard.

This measure would commend the government of El Salvador on its handling of the recent election and would recognize the efforts of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and other institutions in assisting with the election in the spirit of the Chapultepec Peace Accords.

This measure would proclaim June 11, 2014, and June 11 of each subsequent year, California LGBT Veterans Day, to be celebrated statewide.

This measure would declare the month of May 2014 as Foster Care Month.

Existing law establishes the Civil Discovery Act, which governs the rules and procedures related to discovery in all civil cases, and specifies, among other things, the time for completion of discovery and the scope of discovery. Existing law generally requires discovery proceedings to be complete before the date initially set for the trial of the action. On motion of any party, existing law authorizes the court to grant leave to reopen discovery proceedings. Under existing law, the rules of practice and procedure applicable to civil actions generally apply to, and constitute the rules of practice and procedure in family law proceedings, except to the extent that any other statute or rules adopted by Judicial Council provide otherwise. Before the commencement of a proceeding for modification or termination of an order for child, family, or spousal support, existing law establishes a procedure for limited postjudgment discovery in specified family law proceedings, by which either party ordered to pay support or the party to whom support was ordered to be paid is allowed to serve a request on the other party for the production of a completed current income and expense declaration. This bill would require discovery to automatically reopen as to the issues raised in the postjudgment pleadings currently before the court when a request for order or other motion is filed and served after entry of judgment, as specified.