The Personal Income Tax Law provides for various exclusions from gross income. This bill would also exclude from gross income the value of any specified prize or award won by a taxpayer in the Olympic Games. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
This measure would recognize August 8, 2012, as "Are You Dense?" Day 2012, to raise awareness of the risks associated with breast density and the potential benefits of other screening tools to supplement mammography.
(1) The California Constitution establishes a full-time Legislature. The Constitution authorizes the California Citizens Compensation Commission to determine the annual salary and the medical, dental, insurance, and other similar benefits of state officers, including Members of the Legislature. This measure would instead provide for a part-time Legislature and set the annual salary for Members of the Legislature at $24,000, to be adjusted thereafter by the commission consistent with the Consumer Price Index. (2) The California Constitution requires the Legislature to convene on the first Monday of December of each even-numbered year and adjourn on November 30 of the following even-numbered year. This measure would set specific time periods in which the Legislature must complete its work. The bill would require the Legislature to organize and swear in its Members on the first Monday of December of each even-numbered year and reconvene not later than January 7 for a duration of not more than 120 consecutive calendar days in odd-numbered years, and not more than 60 consecutive calendar days in even-numbered years. The measure would require that any legislation introduced in an odd-numbered year be passed within the 120-day period and any legislation introduced in an even-numbered year be passed within the 60-day period. The measure would allow the Legislature to convene for an additional 7 consecutive calendar days for the sole purpose of considering bills vetoed by the Governor, and items of appropriation reduced or eliminated by the Governor. The measure would make other conforming changes. (3) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor, by proclamation, to cause the Legislature to assemble in special session and prohibits the Legislature from legislating on subjects not specified in the proclamation when so assembled. This measure would limit a special session to 30 days in duration and make other related changes. (4) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor, following the enactment of the Budget Bill, to issue a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency if the Governor determines that General Fund revenues will decline substantially below, or that General Fund expenditures will increase substantially above, the estimate of General Fund revenues upon which the Budget Bill, as enacted, was based. The California Constitution provides that if the Legislature fails to pass and send to the Governor a bill or bills to address the fiscal emergency by the 45th day following the issuance of the proclamation, the Legislature may not act on any other bill until that bill or those bills addressing the fiscal emergency have been passed and sent to the Governor. This measure would specify that the prohibited actions include acting upon or taking any action on any other bill, including casting a vote on any other bill in either a policy or fiscal committee, or on the floor of the Assembly or Senate. (5) The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit to the Legislature a budget for the ensuing fiscal year within the first 10 days of each calendar year and requires the Legislature to pass the Budget Bill by midnight on June 15 of each year. This measure would instead require the Governor to submit a biennial budget within the first 7 days of each odd-numbered year and require the Legislature to pass the Budget Bill within 120 days, as specified, and would make conforming changes to other provisions of the California Constitution relating to the biennial budget. This measure would authorize the Governor to propose changes to an enacted biennial state budget when the Legislature is not in session, which changes would become law upon approval by resolution adopted by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. (6) The California Constitution requires that travel and living expenses for Members of the Legislature in connection with their official duties be prescribed by statute passed by rollcall vote, 23 of the membership of each house concurring. This measure would limit these expenses in amount to the per diem rates established by the United States General Services Administration for federal employees. (7) The California Constitution provides that the aggregate expenditures for the compensation of Members and employees of, and the operating expenses and equipment for, the Legislature may not exceed a specified amount. This measure would additionally require that the annual budget amounts for a Member of either house be equal to that of other Members of the same house. (8) The California Constitution provides that no bill may be passed until the bill with amendments has been printed and distributed to the Members. This measure would instead require that each bill with amendments be distributed to the Members at least 72 hours prior to passage. (9) The California Constitution provides that the Legislature or either house may by resolution provide for the selection of committees necessary for the conduct of its business. This measure would require that every political party represented in a house of the Legislature be, to the greatest extent possible, proportionately represented in each legislative committee of that house. The measure would additionally specify membership requirements for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
(1) Existing provisions of the California Constitution generally require a bill containing a General Fund appropriation to be passed by a 23 vote of both houses of the Legislature. The Budget Bill and other bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill, as defined, are exempt from this requirement and may be passed by a majority vote, to take effect immediately upon being signed by the Governor or upon a date specified in the legislation. This measure would repeal both those provisions exempting the Budget Bill and other bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill from the 23-vote requirement, and the provisions specifying that those bills take effect immediately. (2) Existing provisions of the California Constitution prohibit the Legislature from sending to the Governor for consideration, and prohibit the Governor from signing, a Budget Bill that would appropriate from the General Fund a total amount that, when combined with specified appropriations and transfers, exceeds General Fund revenues for that fiscal year estimated as of the date of the Budget Bill's passage. This measure would require that the estimate of General Fund revenues described above be made by the Legislative Analyst. The measure would require the Legislative Analyst, within 3 days after a Budget Bill is submitted to the Governor, to certify whether the Budget Bill meets the above requirement regarding appropriations from the General Fund. The Governor would be prohibited from signing a Budget Bill that the Legislative Analyst certifies as not meeting that requirement unless the Governor reduces or eliminates items of appropriation in the bill and the Legislative Analyst certifies that the bill, as adjusted, meets that requirement. This measure would prohibit either house of the Legislature from adjourning for more than 10 days after sending a Budget Bill to the Governor until the Legislative Analyst has provided the certification described above.
This measure would commemorate the 40th anniversary of Title IX on June 23, 2012, commend the movement toward increased equality and fair treatment of female athletes, and praise the goal of greater opportunities in sports for girls and young women in California.
This measure would proclaim June 2012 as Scleroderma Awareness Month.
Existing law, the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, authorizes counties to establish retirement systems for county employees, authorizes counties to establish a board of retirement, and authorizes the board of retirement to provide cost-of-living adjustments. This bill would provide, except as specified, that a person who first becomes a member of the Orange County Employees Retirement System on or after January 1, 2012, shall not be eligible to receive an annual cost-of-living increase, as specified, until at least 12 months from the date of that member's retirement and the member is only eligible to receive an adjustment based on the preceding 12 months. The bill provides that the operation of these provisions is contingent upon the Orange County Board of Supervisors adopting a resolution making those provisions applicable in that county, as specified.
This measure would make various statements regarding the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , would request the President and the United States Congress to repeal PPACA, and would encourage federal, state, and local officials to enact health care reform that, among other things, puts the citizen and his or her family at the center of the health care system, as specified. The measure would also request the United States Congress to, among other things, reform federal tax laws, allow Americans to buy health care coverage across state lines, allow businesses to create association health plans, and lift restrictions on employers so they can offer lower premiums to employees who practice healthy lifestyles, and would request the Legislature to enact reforms consistent with those changes, as specified.
Existing law, the California High-Speed Rail Act, creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail system in the state, with specified powers and duties. Existing law, pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, general election, provides for the issuance of $9 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail purposes and $950 million for other related rail purposes. Article XVI of the California Constitution authorizes the Legislature, at any time after the approval of a general obligation bond act by the people, to reduce the amount of the indebtedness authorized by the act to an amount not less than the amount contracted at the time of the reduction or to repeal the act if no debt has been contracted. This bill would reduce the amount of general obligation debt authorized for high-speed rail purposes pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century to the amount contracted as of January 1, 2013.
