Asm. Joshua Hoover

Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue lifetime hunting licenses and lifetime sport fishing licenses, and grants certain lifetime privileges to holders of those licenses, upon the one-time payment of specified fees. This bill would require, upon application to the department, lifetime hunting licenses and lifetime sport fishing licenses to be issued at no cost to Gold Star Family members who meet certain eligibility requirements.

Existing law authorizes the governing boards of 2 or more school districts to enter into an agreement, for a term not to exceed 5 school years, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils who are residents of the school districts. Existing law requires a school district of residence to approve an intradistrict transfer request for a victim of an act of bullying, as provided. If there is no available school for an intradistrict transfer, existing law authorizes a victim of an act of bullying to apply for an interdistrict transfer and prohibits a school district of residence from prohibiting that transfer if the school district of proposed enrollment approves the application for transfer. This bill would require a school district of residence to also approve an intradistrict transfer request for a low-performing pupil, as defined, of that school district if the school of attendance has been identified for comprehensive support and improvement or identified as low performing pursuant to specified federal laws, as provided. If there is no available school for an intradistrict transfer, the bill would authorize a low-performing pupil of a school district, if the school of attendance has been identified for comprehensive support and improvement or identified as low performing pursuant to specified federal laws, to apply for an interdistrict transfer and would prohibit the school district of residence from prohibiting that transfer if the school district of proposed enrollment approves the application for transfer. The bill would prohibit a school district of proposed enrollment from approving those transfer requests if the requested school has been identified for comprehensive support and improvement or identified as low performing pursuant to specified federal laws. By requiring school districts to approve intradistrict transfers for certain pupils, the bill 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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Technology to use a negotiation process to contract for information technology and telecommunications goods and services, as specified, and requires the department to report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, on the use of the negotiation process. This bill would instead require the department to report annually on or before February 1.

Under existing law, a person who lodges in a public or private place without permission is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Existing law also provides that a person who willfully and maliciously obstructs the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would prohibit a person from camping, as defined, in a street, sidewalk, or other public property within 500 feet of a school. The bill would authorize a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney to bring an action for a violation of this prohibition. The bill would make a person who violates this prohibition liable for a civil fine of not more than $10 in an action brought by the city attorney of the city or the county counsel or the district attorney of the county where the violation occurred.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including social sciences. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education. Existing law requires the state board, concurrently with, but not before, the next revision of textbooks or curriculum frameworks in the social sciences, health, and mathematics curricula, to ensure that these academic areas integrate components of, among other things, financial literacy. Notwithstanding that requirement on the state board, existing law requires the commission, when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised after January 1, 2017, to consider including age-appropriate information for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, regarding certain topics on financial literacy. This bill would require the commission, when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised after January 1, 2017, to also consider including age-appropriate information and content for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, on the importance of estate planning and the use of trusts.

The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. For 2021, the adjusted gross income limit is $87,066 and $43,533, respectively. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account in the General Fund and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the taxable year that includes the date on which funding is first authorized for purposes of this bill and for the succeeding 4 taxable years, and only when specified in a bill relating to the Budget Act, would increase the credit amount to $2,000 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of households, and surviving spouses and $1,000 for other individuals. In the event the increased credit amount is not specified in a bill relating to the Budget Act, the existing credit amounts, as described above, would be the credit amounts for that taxable year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually recompute the credit amounts for inflation for taxable years following the first year in which the increased credit is operative, except as provided. The bill, for credits allowable for taxable years in which the above-described increased credit is operative, would provide that the credit amount in excess of the qualified renter's liability would be refundable and paid from the Tax Relief and Refund Account to the qualified renter upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill would provide findings and declarations relating to the goals, purposes, and objectives of this credit. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas, electrical, and water corporations. Existing law authorizes an owner of a master-metered mobilehome park or manufactured housing community that provides gas or electrical service to residents to transfer ownership and operational responsibility to the gas corporation or electrical corporation providing service in the area in which the park or community is located. This bill would, in addition to making specified findings and declarations, state the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation to require water corporations to purchase, own, and operate water systems currently owned and operated by manufactured housing communities, upon request of the owner, in order to assume responsibility for direct delivery of water to residents of those communities, as specified.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program, administered by the State Department of Education, with the purpose of encouraging, maintaining, and strengthening the delivery of high-quality career technical education programs. Existing law provides, for the 2021–22 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, that $300,000,000 shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the program. Existing law requires an applicant to demonstrate a proportional dollar-for-dollar match and sets that amount for the 2021–22 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, at $2 for every $1 received from the program. Existing law prohibits an applicant from being awarded an amount higher than the amount that the allocation formula determines them to be eligible to receive under the program. This bill instead would provide, for the 2024–25 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, that $450,000,000 shall be made available to the department upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the program. The bill would reduce the proportional match for the 2023–24 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, to $1 for regional occupational centers or programs operated by a joint powers authority or those operated by a county office of education, and to $1.50 for local educational agencies. The bill would delete the prohibition against an applicant being awarded more than the amount determined by the allocation formula. (2) Existing law requires grant applicants to meet minimum requirements, including, among other things, reporting to the Superintendent of Public Instruction data on the number of pupils completing career technical education coursework. This bill would require applicants to additionally report data on the number of pupils completing a career technical education pathway consisting of a sequence of 2 or more career technical education courses in the same career technical education subject matter discipline. (3) Existing law requires the Superintendent to take specified actions for purposes of administering the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program. This bill would require the Superintendent to establish, in collaboration with the executive director of the State Board of Education, a stakeholder workgroup on or before January 31, 2024, to consider and provide recommendations on methods to simplify the allocation of funding under the program and maximize career technical education opportunities for pupils, as provided, and to report those recommendations to the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Department of Finance, and the Governor by July 1, 2024. The bill would require the Superintendent to ensure a level of professional staffing within the department that is dedicated to career technical education, sufficient to effectively administer the program and other federal and state career technical education programs, as specified. (4) Existing law requires the K–12 Workforce Pathway Coordinators and the K–14 Technical Assistance Providers to provide technical assistance and support to grant recipients, as provided. This bill would, commencing with the 2024–25 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, instead require $12,000,000 to be made available to the department, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute, to provide regional career technical education coordinators for the provision of technical assistance and support to local educational agencies in implementing all of their career technical education courses, programs, and pathways, as provided. (5) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes the Strong Workforce Program to provide funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts, as specified. Existing law also establishes a K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program. Existing law provides that, commencing with the 2018–19 fiscal year, the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the K–12 component of the program is used to create, support, or expand high-quality career technical education programs at the K–12 level that are aligned with the workforce development efforts occurring through the program. This bill would, as of July 1, 2024, repeal the K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program and would require the administration of any outstanding allocations for the K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program to be administered by the department pursuant to the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program.

The Solid Waste Disposal and Codisposal Site Cleanup Program, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, pays for the cleanup of solid waste disposal sites and for the cleanup of solid waste at codisposal sites, as specified. This bill would authorize the department, beginning July 1, 2024, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to collect and properly manage illegally disposed hazardous waste and household hazardous waste, as defined, regardless of whether they were codisposed with nonhazardous solid waste. The bill would require the department to annually seek up to $500,000 from the Department of Toxic Substances Control in reimbursement for grants awarded and program costs incurred. The bill would also prohibit the department from expending funds from the Integrated Waste Management Fund for purposes of this program in excess of the amount reimbursed by the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Existing law provides that all property has an owner, whether that owner is the state, and the property is public, or the owner is an individual, and the property is private. Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services, which is responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, among other duties. This bill would prohibit a foreign government from purchasing, acquiring, leasing, or holding a controlling interest, as defined, in agricultural land within the State of California. The bill would exempt land held by foreign governments before January 1, 2024, from that prohibition. The bill would provide that land transferred in violation of these provisions would be subject to divestiture, as specified. Existing federal law requires any foreign person, defined to include foreign governments, who acquires or transfers any interest, other than a security interest, in agricultural land to submit to the United States Secretary of Agriculture a report containing specified information relating to, among other things, the type of interest the foreign person acquired or transferred and their legal name, address, and citizenship or country in which they are created or organized. Existing federal law requires the secretary every 6 months to transmit to each state department of agriculture a copy of each report that was submitted to the secretary in the most recent 6-month period and that involved agricultural land located in that state. This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with the appropriate boards or departments and based on the above-described reports from the United States Secretary of Agriculture, and other information the office deems appropriate, to compile an annual report containing, among other information, the total amount of agricultural land that is under foreign ownership, how that land is currently being put to use, and any legislative, regulatory, or administrative policy recommendations in light of the information from the annual report. The bill would require the office to publish the inaugural annual report on its website by December 31, 2024, and by March 31 every year thereafter. The bill would require the office to deliver copies of any recommendations for legislative policy changes contained in the report to the Governor and the Assembly and Senate Committees on Agriculture. The bill would require the office to be reimbursed for costs incurred for compiling data, printing, and mailing the report, as specified. The bill would make its provisions operative upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.