Asm. Jeff Miller

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2010, allow a credit under both laws in an amount equal to 50% of the amount of costs paid or incurred in connection with additional education and training for purposes of career advancement or retention, as specified. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

This measure would recognize February 2010 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and contributions that African Americans make to their communities.

Existing law requires a local educational agency, at the initial detention or placement or any subsequent change in placement of a foster child, to allow the foster child to continue his or her education in the school of origin, as defined, for the duration of the school year. This bill would instead require a local educational agency to allow the foster child to continue at the school of origin at the foster child's initial detention, placement, or any subsequent change in placement for the duration of the jurisdiction of the court, and would require the local educational agency to allow the child to continue his or her education at that school of origin for the duration of the school year if the court's jurisdiction is terminated prior to the end of the academic year. The bill would specify other requirements for a foster child's placement in school when the foster child is transitioning between school grade levels, as specified. By requiring local educational agencies to perform additional duties, this 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 these statutory provisions.

Existing law sets forth the requirements for the solicitation and evaluation of bids and the awarding of contracts by public entities. The federal Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, which became Public Law 111-195 on July 1, 2010, authorizes a state or local government to adopt and enforce measures meeting certain requirements, to divest the assets of the state or local government from, or prohibit the investment of those assets in, any person that the state or local government, using credible information available to the public, determines to be engaged in investment activities in Iran. The federal act specifies that an investment includes the entry into, or renewal of, a contract for goods or services, and that such a measure is not preempted by any federal law or regulation. Pursuant to this authority, this bill would prohibit a person that provides goods or services of $20,000,000 or more in the energy sector of Iran, as identified on a list created by the Department of General Services, or a financial institution that extends $20,000,000 or more in credit to such a person, from bidding on or entering into or renewing a contract for goods or services of $1,000,000 or more with a public entity, as specified. This bill would, by June 1, 2011, require the Department of General Services to, using credible information available to the public, develop, or contract to develop, a list of persons it determines provide goods or services of $20,000,000 or more in the energy sector of Iran. This bill would, before a person is included on the list, require the Department of General Services to provide 90 days' written notice of its intent to include the person on the list and to inform the person that inclusion on the list would make the person ineligible to bid on, submit a proposal for, or enter into or renew, a contract for goods and services of $1,000,000 or more with a public entity, and would require the department to provide the person with an opportunity to comment in writing that it is not engaged in investment activities in Iran. This bill would require a prospective bidder for those contracts to certify that it is not identified on a list created by the Department of General Services, or a financial institution that extends $20,000,000 or more in credit to such a person, as provided, and would impose penalties, as specified, for a person that provides a false certification. This bill would require a local public entity, or the Department of General Services in the case of state contracts, to provide a person with 90 days' written notice and an opportunity to comment in writing before the penalties are imposed. The bill would allow a public entity, under specified conditions, to permit a person engaged in investment activities in Iran to be eligible for, to bid on, submit a proposal for, or enter into or renew, a contract for goods or services. This bill would preempt any law, ordinance, rules, or regulation of any local public entity involving contracts for goods or services of $1,000,000 or more with a person engaged in investment activities in Iran. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding a statewide concern. This bill would become inoperative upon the date that federal authorization ceases.

Existing law defines human trafficking as the deprivation or violation of the personal liberty of another person with the intent to commit certain specified sex offenses with the person or to obtain forced labor or services, as specified. This bill would authorize real property used to facilitate the commission of that offense to be declared and treated as a nuisance, as specified.

Existing law prescribes procedures for the issuance of registered warrants and provides that a registered warrant is acceptable and may be used as security for the performance of any public or private trust or obligation. This bill would, if the Controller makes a specified determination, require a state agency to accept, from a person or entity, a registered warrant issued by the Controller and endorsed by that payee, at full face value, for the payment of any obligations owed by that payee to that state agency. The bill would specify that its requirements do not apply to certain obligations and would require the Controller, on or before the September 1 following the conclusion of a fiscal year in which a state agency is required to accept registered warrants pursuant to these provisions, to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The bill would make its provisions inoperative on July 1, 2012, and would repeal them on January 1, 2013. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue, upon the payment of an initial fee of $35 and a $20 fee for each renewal of registration, special interest license plates to firefighters who meet prescribed requirements. The revenue derived from the payment of these special fees for firefighter license plates, less the department's costs, are required to be deposited in the California Firefighters' Memorial Fund. This bill would increase those fees to $50 for the initial issuance of the special license plates and $35 for each renewal of registration of the vehicle. Existing law requires, upon the death of the person to whom the special firefighter license plates were issued, that the plates be transferred to the surviving spouse, if he or she requests it, or returned to the department within 60 days after the death of the plateholder or upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs first. This bill would instead authorize the surviving spouse to retain the plates and would require, except as provided below, upon the death of the surviving spouse, the plates to be returned to the department or destroyed within 60 days of the death or upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs first. The bill, in the absence of a surviving spouse or where the surviving spouse dies while in possession of the special license plates, would authorize a member of the deceased firefighter's family, as defined, to retain one of the special license plates as a family heirloom, subject to specified conditions.

Existing law, until January 1, 2014, allows certain state and local transportation entities, if authorized by the California Transportation Commission, to use a design‑build process for contracting on transportation projects, as specified. This bill would authorize the Riverside County Transportation Commission, if authorized by the commission, to utilize this design-build procurement process for the State Route 91 Corridor Improvements Project on the state highway system. The bill would make the Department of Transportation responsible for the performance of construction inspection services for the project, as specified, and would require the commission to report on the progress of the project and related matters to specified legislative committees. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would designate the interchange at State Highway Route 60 and State Highway Route 15, in the County of Riverside, as the E. L. Yeager Interchange. This measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, to erect those signs.

This measure would recognize the contributions of the automotive aftermarket to the state and consumers and its efforts to educate the motoring public about the benefits of proper vehicle maintenance. The measure also would recognize and support the designation of April as National Car Care Month and encourage all citizens to participate in activities that promote proper vehicle maintenance.