Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and prescribes the functions and responsibilities of the department with regard to the implementation, administration, and enforcement of laws regulating fish and wildlife in the state. Existing law also establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and requires the department to implement and administer various fire prevention and suppression programs on lands under the jurisdiction of the department. This bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, on or before December 31, 2021, and by December 31 each year thereafter, to study, investigate, and report to the Legislature on the impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat resulting from any catastrophic wildfire, as defined, that occurred within the Sierra Nevada region during that calendar year, including specified information on a catastrophic wildfire's impact on ecosystems, biodiversity, and protected species. For the report required to be submitted on or before December 31, 2021, the bill would also require the report to include information about catastrophic wildfires that occurred in the Sierra Nevada region during the calendar years 2017 to 2020, inclusive. Existing law, the California Endangered Species Act, among other things, requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife, upon a specific appropriation of funds by the Legislature or if other funding is available, to review species listed as endangered or threatened every 5 years to determine if the conditions that led to the original listing are still present, and prescribes procedures to be followed by the department in making that determination. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
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Existing law makes it a crime to willfully threaten to commit a crime that will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat and which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for own safety or for immediate family's safety. Under existing law, this crime is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for no more than one year for a misdemeanor, or by imprisonment in state prison for a felony. This bill would make a person who, by any means, including, but not limited to, by means of an electronic act, willfully threatens unlawful violence to another person to occur upon the grounds of a school, as defined, with specific intent and under certain circumstances, and that threat creates a disruption at the school, guilty of a misdemeanor or felony punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a specified term. By creating a new crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
This measure would designate the week of February 24, 2020, to March 1, 2020, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, would allow a credit to a taxpayer, except as specified, that purchases a battery storage system unit for a solar energy system, as defined, in an amount equal to 50% of the costs paid or incurred by the taxpayer for that battery storage system unit, not to exceed $5,000 per taxable year, as specified. The bill would allow the credit for only one battery storage system unit per each separate legal parcel of property for which the filing taxpayer has legal ownership in the state. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to allow the credit to taxpayers filing for the same legal parcel of property on a first-come-first-served basis, determined by the date the taxpayer's timely filed original tax return is received by the Franchise Tax Board, except as provided. The bill would provide that the board's determination as to the date a return is received and whether a return has been timely filed for purposes of the credit is not reviewable in any administrative or judicial proceeding. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would also include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Department of General Services and requires state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the commission for approval and adoption, as provided. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code, which is required to be published once every 3 years. This bill would prohibit an accessory dwelling unit, as defined, from being considered to be a newly constructed building for purposes of a specified provision of the California Energy Code, which is part of the California Building Standards Code, regarding the photovoltaic requirements for newly constructed buildings that are low-rise residential buildings. The bill would require the California Energy Commission to study exempting accessory dwelling units from the photovoltaic requirements specified above and would require the Energy Commission to make recommendations to the California Building Standards Commission in time for consideration and adoption in the next regularly occurring California Building Standards code adoption cycle.
The Personal Income Tax Law imposes a tax on individual taxpayers measured by the taxpayer's taxable income for the taxable year, but excludes certain items of income from the computation of tax, including an exclusion for combat-related special compensation. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2031, would exclude from gross income specified amounts of retirement pay received by a taxpayer from the federal government for service performed in the uniformed services, as defined, during the taxable year. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report for a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. In an action or proceeding alleging the lead agency violated CEQA, CEQA requires the lead agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings and requires the parties to pay any reasonable costs or fees imposed for the preparation of the record of proceedings, as specified. CEQA authorizes the plaintiff or petitioner to elect to prepare the record of proceedings or for the parties to agree to an alternative method of preparation of the record of proceedings, subject to certification of its accuracy by the public agency. This bill would make the above authorization for the plaintiff or petitioner to elect to prepare the record of proceedings or to agree to an alternative method of record preparation inapplicable in a proceeding challenging a project that will be exclusively located or implemented in a county with fewer than 1,000,000 residents and, if the project is located in a city within that county, the city has fewer than 500,000 residents.
This measure proclaims the week of May 17, 2020, to May 23, 2020, to be Special Districts Week.
Existing law makes it a crime to willfully and maliciously injure or poison a horse or dog being used by a peace officer, as provided. If a serious injury is inflicted, existing law requires the person to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, 2 or 3 years, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by both this fine and imprisonment. In addition to a felony sentence, existing law requires the person to serve an additional and consecutive term of one year in a county jail if the person acted with intent to inflict injury or death and personally caused death or serious physical injury to the animal, as specified. This bill would increase the additional and consecutive term from one year to 2 years in a county jail for a person who acted with intent to inflict injury or death and personally caused death or serious physical injury to the animal. By increasing the punishment for a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state of, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes, including an exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or consumption of, building materials and supplies purchased by a qualified person in the construction of specified military and veteran medical facilities. This bill, on and after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, would exempt from these taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, building materials and supplies purchases by a qualified person for use by that qualified person in the construction of specified senior housing developments. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.