This measure would recognize the week of April 18, 2010, through April 24, 2010, as Crime Victims' Rights Week.
(1) The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. An agency that is considering adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation is authorized to consult with interested persons before initiating regulatory action, and requires an agency to do so when the regulation involves complex or numerous proposals. This bill would require the agency, if it does not, or is unable to, consult with these parties to inform in writing the Office of Small Business Advocate and the Department of Finance of its decision and the reasons for not consulting the impacted businesses. (2) The act requires every state agency subject to the act to submit, with the notice of the proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation, an initial statement of reasons for proposing the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation, which is required to include, among other things, a description of any reasonable alternatives that would lessen any adverse impact on small business and the agency's reasons for rejecting those reasonable alternatives. The act specifies the agency is not required, in this initial statement, to artificially construct alternatives, describe unreasonable alternatives, or justify why it has not described alternatives. This bill would require the agency to describe the agency's reasons for rejecting each specific alternative, and would delete the specification that an agency is not required to artificially construct alternatives, describe unreasonable alternatives, or justify why it has not described alternatives. (3) The act requires a state agency to assess the potential of a proposal to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation to adversely affect business enterprises and individuals. This bill would also require an agency to submit an economic impact statement that makes that assessment and would also require an agency, before submitting a proposal, to prepare a small business economic impact statement that contains specified information. (4) Under the act, the agency must issue a notice of proposed action that includes prescribed information, including, if a state agency makes an initial determination that the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation will not have a significant statewide adverse economic impact directly affecting business, a declaration of that determination. This bill would delete that requirement and instead require, if an agency declares that it is not aware of any cost impact, that the notice of proposed action include a statement describing how a private person or business could comply with the proposed regulation without incurring a cost. This bill would also require that the notice of proposed action include the small business economic impact statement that this bill requires an agency to prepare. (5) The act also requires the Department of Finance to adopt and update, as necessary, instructions for inclusion in the State Administrative Manual prescribing the methods that any agency is required to use in making the determinations relating to mandates on local agencies or school districts, as specified. This bill would also require the Department of Finance to adopt and update, as necessary, instructions prescribing the methods that any agency is required to use in making the determinations relating to significant, statewide adverse economic impacts directly affecting business, as specified. (6) The act requires the Office of Administrative Law to review and approve regulations that are adopted, amended, or repealed, using prescribed standards. The act requires that the office reject a proposed regulation in specified circumstances. This bill would require that the office reject a proposed regulation if the adopting agency does not provide specified information relating to the small business economic impact statement. (7) The act authorizes any interested person to obtain a judicial declaration as to the validity of specified regulations or orders of repeal, by bringing an action for declaratory relief in the superior court in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure. This bill would specify that an interested person includes, but is not limited to, a small business or an organization or trade association that represents small businesses and whose members are affected by the regulation. (8) The bill would also make conforming changes to the act.
This measure would proclaim the month of May to be Women Veterans Recognition Month.
Existing law, the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act, requires every state agency, except as specified, that is directly involved in the furnishing of information or the rendering of services to the public whereby contact is made with a substantial number of non-English speaking people, to employ a sufficient number of qualified bilingual persons in public contact positions. Existing law also requires that any materials explaining services available to the public be translated into any non-English language spoken by a substantial number of the public served by the agency. Existing law imposes specified reporting requirements related to these provisions. This bill would prohibit a state or local agency from imposing or implementing an action or decision pursuant to these provisions as a pretext for discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, or other unlawful discrimination in employment, including any requirement that an employee be bilingual, as specified. The bill would also require that all information and reports required by the provisions of existing law described above be public information unless otherwise restricted by law.
Existing law specifies that there is in the Department of Veterans Affairs a Veterans Home of California, Yountville, and that the department may establish and construct a second veterans home located on one or more sites in specified counties. Existing law specifies the particular sites of the second home. This bill would revise and recast these provisions to state, in the same order as listed in current law, that there is a veterans home at Yountville and at each of the locations currently specified as a site of the second home. This bill would provide for the Veterans Home of California, Chula Vista, to also be known as the "John Smith Memorial Veterans Home," and for the Veterans Home of California, Lancaster, to also be known as the "William J. 'Pete' Knight Veterans Home."
Existing law authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation to enter into an agreement with an agency of the United States, a city, county, district, or public agency, or any combination thereof, for the care, maintenance, administration, and control of lands of the state park system. This bill would require the department to enter into an operating agreement with the City of Riverside for the development, improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, and control of California Citrus State Historic Park. The bill would require that the agreement contain certain provisions. The bill would also provide that, notwithstanding the existence of the operating agreement, the park shall be eligible for any grants or funding for which the park was eligible prior to the agreement. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution require meetings of each house and committee of the Legislature to be open to the public, except that closed meetings may be held to consider specified matters, including employment and personnel, security, advice from counsel, and caucus meetings. Existing provisions of the California Constitution provide that no bill may be passed unless it is read by title on 3 days in each house except that the house may dispense with this requirement by rollcall vote entered in the journal, 23 of the membership concurring. Existing provisions of the California Constitution prohibit a bill from being passed until the bill with amendments has been printed and distributed to the members. This measure would further require a house or committee of the Legislature, at least 72 hours before a regularly scheduled meeting, to post an agenda containing a brief general description of each item to be considered, including items to be considered in closed session. The measure would generally prohibit consideration of any matter not included in the agenda. The measure would require public disclosure of a writing provided to members of a house or a committee in connection with the consideration of agenda items unless the writing is exempt from the mandatory disclosure requirements imposed by statute. The measure would require each agenda for a regular committee meeting to provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the committee on an item of interest to the public, before or during the committee's consideration of the item, that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the committee. The measure would provide for the calling of a special or emergency meeting of the house or a committee upon specified notice to its members and the media. The measure would prohibit the passage of a bill in either house of the Legislature until the bill with amendments has been printed and distributed to the members of the house at least 24 hours before the vote in that house on passage of the bill.
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.
Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, restricts the employment of licensed physicians and surgeons and podiatrists by a corporation or other artificial legal entity, subject to specified exemptions, and makes it a crime to practice medicine without a license. Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2011, a pilot project to allow qualified district hospitals that, among other things, provide more than 50% of patient days to the care of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and uninsured patients, to employ a physician and surgeon, if the hospital does not interfere with, control, or otherwise direct the professional judgment of the physician and surgeon. The pilot project authorizes the direct employment of a total of 20 physicians and surgeons by those hospitals to provide medically necessary services in rural and medically underserved communities, and specifies that each qualified district hospital may employ up to 2 physicians and surgeons, subject to specified requirements. This bill would delete that pilot project and would instead, until January 1, 2021, authorize a health care district, as defined, and a clinic owned or operated by a health care district, as specified, to employ physicians and surgeons if the health care district's service area includes a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or a Medically Underserved Population (MUP) , or has been federally designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) ; the district board conducts a public hearing and adopts a specified resolution declaring the need for the district to recruit and directly employ one or more physicians and surgeons; and the executive officer of the district provides specified documentation to the Medical Board of California. Upon receipt of that documentation, the bill would require the board to approve the employment of up to 5 primary or specialty care physicians and surgeons by the district, and, upon receipt of additional documentation after that employment, to approve an additional 5 primary or specialty care physicians and surgeons. The bill would provide that a district may, until December 31, 2020, enter into, renew, or extend any employment contract with a physician and surgeon for up to 10 years. The bill would require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health and the board, to report to the Legislature by June 1, 2018, with regard to the efficacy of the employment of physicians and surgeons by health care districts, as specified.
