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.
(1) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to develop an Academic Performance Index (API) , consisting of specified indicators, to measure the performance of schools and pupils. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2014, and repeal them as of January 1, 2015. The bill would require the Superintendent, in consultation with a specified advisory committee, to develop an Education Quality Index (EQI) , which would replace the API and consist of a State Assessment Index, a Graduation Rate Index, a College Preparedness Index, and a Career Readiness Index. The bill would require that these indices consist of specified criteria. In developing the EQI, the Superintendent and this advisory committee would be required to consult with the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, the Employment Development Department, and other appropriate entities. The bill would require the state board to provide opportunities for public input, make changes as necessary, and adopt the EQI no later than August 1, 2014. Commencing with the 2014–15 school year, the bill would require that all schools and school districts be evaluated using an EQI value. The bill would require the Superintendent to report to the Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by July 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, specified information relating to the creation of additional indices. The bill also would require the Superintendent, in consultation with a specified advisory committee, and subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose, to contract for an independent evaluation of the effectiveness and reliability of the EQI and any statutory changes recommended for improvement, and to submit the evaluation and recommendations in a report to the Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by July 1, 2018. To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on school districts in connection with the establishment of the EQI, including, but not limited to, new reporting duties, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also make conforming and clarifying changes relating to the duties of a specified advisory committee. The bill would require this advisory committee, for purposes of work relating to the EQI, to seek input through the establishment of subcommittees or other methods from persons with expertise in various areas, and, commencing January 1, 2012, through July 1, 2016, to hold a public meeting at least once each quarter per year. (2) 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.
Existing law defines the term "public works" for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages, the regulation of working hours, and the securing of workers' compensation for public works projects. Existing law requires prevailing wages to be paid for construction work done under private contract when specified conditions exist. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those provisions.
This resolution would recognize the month of January 2012, and each following January, as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and it would recognize February 1, 2012, and each following February 1, as California's Free From Slavery Day.
Existing law provides the forfeiture of, and ineligibility for, unemployment insurance benefits for certain time periods for any individual convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of willfully making a false statement or knowingly failing to disclose a material fact to obtain or increase any benefit or payment in violation of specified provisions of state law. This bill would delete the requirement that the conviction be for a specified violation of state law, and would instead require that the conviction be in a court of competent jurisdiction of this state, any other state, or the federal government. Existing law prohibits a person from making false statements, representations or concealment to obtain, increase, reduce, or defeat unemployment benefit payments or for the purpose of lowering or avoiding contributions under these provisions. Existing law requires the department to give a person written notice of intent to file a criminal complaint under these provisions not less than 10 days prior to the filing of the criminal complaint. This bill would delete this notice requirement. Existing law provides that a violation of specified provisions of the unemployment insurance law and the law requiring the withholding of state income tax on wages is a crime, with specified and differing penalties. Existing law provides that all penalties collected relating to disability insurance are deposited in the Employment Development Department Contingent Fund. Existing law also makes it a crime to conspire to commit a crime, and makes conspiracy punishable by specified fines and imprisonment. This bill would make various changes regarding the penalties for violations of the unemployment insurance law, the law requiring the withholding of state income tax on wages, and the Unemployment Insurance Code, including increasing specified civil penalties, making certain violations a felony rather than a misdemeanor, and increasing the maximum imprisonment for various violations. The bill would provide that conspiracy to violate the unemployment insurance laws is subject to the same fines and imprisonment as the violation of those laws, rather than the general fines and imprisonment applicable to conspiracy to violate the law. The bill would require the Employment Development Department to deposit repayments under the unemployment insurance provisions into the funds from which the overpayments were made, to deposit penalties for violations of unemployment compensation benefit provisions into the Employment Development Department Benefit Audit Fund, and to deposit penalties for violations of disability compensation benefit provisions into the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund. This bill would make an appropriation by providing for the deposit of new and increased penalties into the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund and the Employment Development Department Benefit Audit Fund, both of which are continuously appropriated funds.
(1) The Enterprise Zone Act provides for the designation and oversight by the Department of Housing and Community Development of various types of economic development areas throughout the state, including enterprise zones, targeted tax areas, local agency military base recovery areas (LAMBRAs) , and Manufacturing Enhancement Areas, collectively known as geographically targeted economic development areas, or G-TEDAs. Pursuant to these provisions, qualifying entities in those areas may receive certain tax and regulatory incentives. This bill would rename the act as the California Economic and Community Development Zone Act. This bill would delete the provisions governing Manufacturing Enhancement Areas and targeted tax areas, and make various revisions in the requirements for designating and administering enterprise zones and LAMBRAs, and G-TEDAs collectively. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize a taxpayer to claim certain tax incentives for activities conducted in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA, including a credit for a specified percentage of wages paid during the taxable year to a qualified employee, as defined, who is employed by the taxpayer during the taxable year in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA. This bill would, with respect to employees hired before January 1, 2011, increase specified requirements for an individual to be a qualified employee for purposes of the enterprise zone hiring credits, and make other specified changes relating to the requirements for a taxpayer to take advantage of the credits. This bill would, with respect to employees hired after January 1, 2011, revise the enterprise zone hiring credit, so that the credit would be available only for a qualified employee for each of the first 3 years of employment and modify the applicable percentage amounts. This bill would impose new requirements for a taxpayer claiming this credit, including a registration requirement made under penalty of perjury. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also limit the carryover period to 15 years. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2013, impose a specified 50% overall limitation on these credits, as provided. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a credit in an amount equal to the amount of sales or use tax paid in connection with qualified property that is purchased and placed in service during the taxable year by a taxpayer engaged in a trade or business in an enterprise zone, targeted tax area, or LAMBRA, and allow unused credits to be carried over indefinitely to subsequent taxable years. This bill would require the taxpayer to register, as specified, a business in an enterprise zone, targeted tax area, or a LAMBRA before the taxpayer can claim a credit, and would limit the carryover period to 15 years. This bill would also impose a specified 50% overall limitation on these credits as provided. (4) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow deductions in the amount of net interest received by a taxpayer in payment of a debt of a person or entity engaged in a trade or business in an enterprise zone. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2013, limit the amount of these deductions to 50% of the net interest received by a taxpayer in payment of debt, as specified. (5) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow specified credits for hiring employees in a targeted tax area and manufacturing enhancement area. This bill would limit the credits to qualified employees hired by a qualified taxpayer before January 1, 2011. (6) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a deduction for a net operating loss of a person or entity engaged in business in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA, and any unused net operating losses to be a net operating loss carryover to other years, as specified. This bill would allow a deduction for those net operating losses only for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2011, but would allow any unused net operating losses to continue to be carried to other years as provided. (7) 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. (8) This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. (9) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state in the amount of 1% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided, for a specified amount of time. Existing law also, until June 30, 2011, imposes an additional tax equal to 0.15% of the market value of specified vehicles, as determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, to the vehicle license fee, to be deposited in the General Fund and transferred to the Local Safety and Protection Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would repeal the provision relating to the sunset date and repeal of the additional 0.15% tax, thereby depositing additional moneys into a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to obtain day treatment, and to contract for crisis care services, for parolees with mental health problems. Existing law directs the department to work with counties with the goal of extending these services upon completion of the offender's period of parole. This bill would repeal these provisions.
