This measure would declare the week of March 12, 2012, through March 16, 2012, as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week.
This measure would declare March 2012 to be Campus Safety Month, and would encourage citizens to visit the Internet Web site of the national nonprofit organization Security On Campus, Inc., to view public safety information about public and private colleges and universities.
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. That act requires the office to transmit a copy of a regulation to the Secretary of State for filing if the office approves the regulation or fails to act on it within 30 days. That act provides that a regulation or an order of repeal of a regulation becomes effective on the 30th day after it is filed with the Secretary of State, unless prescribed conditions occur. This bill would require the office to also submit to the Legislature for review a copy of each disapproved regulation where the basis for that disapproval was a determination that the agency exceeded its statutory authority in adopting the regulation. This bill would also require that a regulation become effective on the 60th day after it is filed with the Secretary of State, unless prescribed conditions occur.
Existing law requires the Controller to superintend the fiscal concerns of the state. Existing law requires the Controller to, among other things, audit all claims against the state, account for expenditures as scheduled in the Budget Act, and report monthly on each state agency's annual expenditure plan. This bill would require a state agency to provide the Controller with its budget or salary information, or both, if requested by the Controller. This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the University of California comply with this provision, as specified.
This measure would recognize the month of February 2012 as American Heart Month in California and recognize February 3, 2012, as Wear Red Day in California.
(1) The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit annually to the Legislature a budget itemizing state expenditures and estimating state revenues and requires the Legislature to pass the Budget Bill by midnight on June 15. This bill would require that the budget submitted by the Governor to the Legislature for the 2013–14 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, as specified in a plan developed by the Department of Finance and distributed to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by August 1, 2012, be developed pursuant to performance-based budgeting, as defined, for each state agency. (2) Under existing law, a state agency for which an appropriation is made is generally required to submit to the Department of Finance for approval a complete and detailed budget setting forth all proposed expenditures and estimated revenues for the ensuing fiscal year. The bill would require the budget of a state agency, as defined, submitted to the department as specified in the plan developed by the department, to utilize performance-based budgeting for all programs, as defined to include those performed not only by state agencies, but by local agencies, contractors, or others that have a material relationship with the state, or its authorities and activities. For those programs not administered by the state, but which confer a benefit that would not otherwise be conferred but for the action of state government, state departments would be required to develop a process for consulting with responsible local agencies, contractors or other responsible entities, and stakeholders to develop information related to performance standards and program performance. The bill would require the department to include specified performance-based budgeting information in the Governor's Budget proposal and to post that information on the department's Internet Web site. Implementation of the requirement to use performance-based budgeting for departments and programs would be contingent on an appropriation of funding for that requirement in the annual Budget Act.
Existing law authorizes the court, if it appears that expert evidence is or may be required by the court or any party to the action, to appoint one or more experts to investigate, to render a report, and to testify as an expert at the trial of the action relative to the fact or matter as to which the expert evidence is or may be required, as specified. Existing law governs family law proceedings. Existing law authorizes or requires, as specified, the court to appoint various professionals to assist in these proceedings, including counsel for the minor, mediators, and child custody evaluators, among others. This bill would prohibit any monetary liability on the part of, and any cause of action for damages against, any professional appointed by court order to provide services to the court pursuant to the provisions described above, as an expert witness or in connection with family law proceedings, for any act, opinion, report, or communication in the performance of those services, as specified.
Existing law requires the translation of ballots and ballot materials into languages other than English when specified circumstances exist. This bill would require that, if a jurisdiction provides a translation of the candidates' alphabet-based names into a character-based language, such as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, phonetic transliterations of the alphabet-based names of candidates be provided. The bill would also require that if a candidate's name is to appear on the ballot in more than one jurisdiction in an election then all of those jurisdictions must use the same phonetic transliteration or character-based translation of the name. This bill would provide an exception for a candidate who has a character-based name by birth or has verifiably been known by a character-based name for at least 2 years to permit him or her to use that name on the ballot instead of a phonetic transliteration. This bill would require that, if a jurisdiction provides separate ballots containing translations of the candidates' names in different languages, both the alphabet-based names and the translations of the candidates' names appear on the translated ballot. This bill would also require a county to purchase voting equipment that permits compliance with this section as a part of any new purchase of voting equipment. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local elections officials, it 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, 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.
