The Political Reform Act of 1974 establishes the Fair Political Practices Commission, which has the primary responsibility for the impartial, effective administration and implementation of the act, including acting as the civil prosecutor responsible for the enforcement of the penalty provisions of the act. This bill would, upon mutual agreement between the Fair Political Practices Commission and the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino, authorize the Commission to have primary responsibility for the impartial, effective administration, implementation, and enforcement of a local campaign finance reform ordinance of the County of San Bernardino. The bill would authorize the Commission to investigate possible violations of the local county campaign finance reform ordinance and bring administrative actions against persons who violate the ordinance, as specified. The bill would require the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino to consult with the Commission prior to adopting and amending any local campaign finance reform ordinance that is subsequently enforced by the Commission. The bill would specify that the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino and the Commission may enter into any agreements necessary and appropriate for the operation of these provisions, including agreements for reimbursement of state costs with county funds, as specified. The bill would provide that the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino or the Commission may, at any time, by ordinance or resolution, terminate any agreement for the Commission to administer, implement, or enforce the local campaign finance reform ordinance or any provision thereof. The bill would require the Commission to report to the Legislature with specified information on or before January 1, 2017, if the Commission enters into an agreement with the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino. This bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2018, as specified. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations concerning the need for special legislation. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
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Existing law regulates the operation of firefighting equipment and authorizes the operation of firefighting equipment by a person with a firefighter endorsement who holds a class C license. Existing law requires that to qualify for a firefighter endorsement an applicant must, among other things, submit a report of medical examination within 4 years preceding the application date. This bill would require that an applicant for a firefighter endorsement submit instead medical information on a form approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles upon application and every 2 years thereafter.
Existing law prohibits a person, for amusement or gain, from causing, permitting on his or her premises, or aiding and abetting in the fighting of specified animals, including bears and dogs. A violation of this prohibition is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed $5,000, or by both. This bill would raise the fine to $10,000. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly be present as a spectator at any place, building, or tenement for an exhibition of animal fighting or for preparations for that act. A violation of this prohibition is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed 6 months, or by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by both. This bill would raise the fine to $5,000. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to manufacture, buy, sell, barter, exchange, or for a person to have in his or her possession any of the implements commonly known as gaffs or slashers, or any other sharp implement designed to be attached in place of the natural spur of a gamecock or other fighting bird. A violation of this prohibition is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $5,000, or by both, and upon conviction, in addition to any judgment or sentence imposed by the court, forfeiture of possession or ownership of those implements. This bill would raise the fine to $10,000. Existing law prohibits a person from owning, possessing, keeping, or training any bird or other animal with the intent that it be used or engaged by himself or herself, by his or her vendee, or by any other person in an exhibition of fighting. A person who violates this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $5,000, or by both. This bill would raise the fine to $10,000.
Existing law establishes the motorcyclist safety program in the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to be administered by the commissioner of the department. Existing law authorizes the commissioner, through contracts with other public agencies or with private entities, to fund projects to enhance motorcycle operation or safety such as rider training programs, to sponsor and coordinate efforts to increase motorists' awareness of motorcyclists, to sponsor research on communicating motorcyclist safety to highway users, and to adopt standards relating to a novice motorcyclist training program. This bill would expressly prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from conducting motorcycle only checkpoints.
Existing law provides that a party's absence, relocation, or failure to comply with custody and visitation orders is not, by itself, sufficient to justify modifying a custody or visitation order if the party's absence, relocation, or failure is due to his or her activation to military service, mobilization in support of combat or other military operation, or military deployment out of state, as defined. Existing law authorizes a court to issue a temporary order for custody and visitation for the period in which the party will be deployed, mobilized, or on temporary duty. Under existing law, there is a presumption that, upon the return of that party, the order shall revert back to the custody order that was in place before the modification unless the reversion is not in the best interest of the child. This bill would, after the deploying party returns from deployment, prohibit the court from ordering a child custody evaluation as part of its review of a temporary order unless the party opposing reversion to the prior custody order makes a prima facie showing that reversion would not be in the child's best interest. Further, the bill would provide that neither a child's absence from the state during a parent's deployment nor a nondeploying parent's relocation during a parent's deployment while a temporary modification order is in effect would terminate the family court's jurisdiction for later custody modifications. This bill would also prohibit a parent's deployment from being used as a basis for asserting that the state court is an inconvenient forum for custody orders. The bill would additionally express the intent of the Legislature that family courts, to the extent feasible given existing resources and court practices, prioritize and expedite child custody cases when a military parent is deployed or returns from deployment.
Existing law provides that every dealer in or collector of junk, metals, or secondhand materials, or the agent, employee, or representative of that dealer or collector, who buys or receives any wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron, or brass which he or she knows or reasonably should know is ordinarily used by or ordinarily belongs to a railroad or other transportation, telephone, telegraph, gas, water, or electric light company or county, city, city and county, or other political subdivision of this state engaged in furnishing public utility service without using due diligence to ascertain that the person selling or delivering the same has a legal right to do so, is guilty of criminally receiving that property, and shall be punished by imprisonment as specified, by a fine of not more than $250, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would increase that maximum fine to an amount not to exceed $1,000. Existing law provides that a person commits the crime of vandalism when he or she defaces, damages, or destroys property that is not his or her own. Existing law provides that vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, by a fine, as specified, based on the amount of the defacement, damage, or destruction, or by both the fine and imprisonment. This bill would enact a clarifying statement relating to vandalism committed against public transit property and facilities, public parks property and facilities, and public utilities and water property and facilities, and would also express certain findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the theft of nonferrous materials.
Existing law prohibits any person, except as specified, from driving any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied in or upon the vehicle that obstructs or reduces the driver's clear view through the windshield or side windows. Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to refuse to pay tolls or other charges on any vehicular crossing or toll highway and requires, among other things, that if a transponder or other electronic toll payment device is used to pay tolls or other charges due, the device be located in or on the vehicle in a location so as to be visible for the purpose of enforcement at all times when the vehicle is located on the vehicular crossing or toll highway. This bill would require a motorcyclist to instead use any one of 5 specified methods when using a transponder or other electronic toll payment device to pay tolls or other charges when entering a vehicle crossing or toll highway.
Existing law prohibits a local authority from establishing parking meter zones and fixing the rate or fees for those zones, except by ordinance. Existing law further authorizes a local authority to, by ordinance, cause streets and highways to be marked with white lines designating parking spaces and require vehicles to park within the parking spaces. This bill would authorize a local authority to fix a variable rate of fees for those zones, based upon criteria identified by the local authority in the ordinance, and would authorize a local authority to accept payment of parking meter fees by a mobile device. The bill also would authorize a local authority to adopt an ordinance or resolution prohibiting or restricting the parking of a vehicle at an inoperable parking meter or inoperable parking payment center, as defined. The bill would authorize parking at an inoperable parking meter for up to the posted time limit if no ordinance or resolution has been adopted to prohibit it.
Under existing law, a trust that is revocable by the settlor may be revoked in whole or in part by either compliance with any method of revocation provided in the trust instrument or by a writing, other than a will, signed by the settlor and delivered to the trustee during the settlor's lifetime, as specified. This bill would also allow revocation of a trust to be made by a writing signed by any other person holding the power of revocation and delivered to the trustee during the lifetime of the settlor or the person holding the power of revocation. Under existing law, if a trust is created by more than one settlor, each settlor may revoke the trust as to the portion of the trust contributed by that settlor, unless the trust instrument provides otherwise and except with respect to certain community property interests. This bill would, notwithstanding these provisions, specify that a settlor may grant to another person, including his or her spouse, a power to revoke all or part of that portion of the trust contributed by that settlor, regardless of whether that portion was separate property or community property of that settlor, and regardless of whether that power to revoke is exercisable during the lifetime of that settlor or continues after the death of that settlor, or both. Existing law establishes procedures governing the disposal of property when a trust is terminated. Under existing law, if a trust is revoked by the settlor, then the trust property is disposed of according to the directions of the settlor. This bill would instead specify that if a trust is revoked by the settlor, the trust property would be disposed of first as directed by the settlor, secondly, as provided in the trust instrument, and to the extent there is no direction by the settlor or in the trust instrument, to the settlor, or his or her estate, as specified. The bill would also specify that if a trust is revoked by any person holding a power of revocation other than the settlor, the trust property would first be disposed of as provided in the trust instrument, secondly as directed by the person exercising the power of revocation, and to the extent there is no direction in the trust instrument or by the person exercising the power of revocation, to the person exercising the power of revocation, or his or her estate. The bill would also make related conforming and nonsubstantive changes.
The California Constitution provides that a person shall be disqualified from holding office if he or she has been convicted of bribery, and directs the Legislature to enact laws to exclude persons convicted of malfeasance in office or other high crimes from office. Under existing statutory law, a person is disqualified from holding any office upon the conviction of specified crimes designated in the Constitution or statute. Existing law enumerates events causing a vacancy in office, including the conviction of a felony or any offense involving a violation of official duties. This bill would disqualify for 5 years a person who employed at will for the purposes of providing services to an elected public officer from any public employment, including, but not limited to, employment with a city, county, district, or any other public agency of this state, if he or she is convicted of a felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes arising directly out of his or her duties as a public employee. That 5-year disqualification period would begin at the later of either the person's final conviction or release from any incarceration.