Existing law allows an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of his or her personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds and accounts, including among others, to the Endangered and Rare Fish, Wildlife, and Plant Species Conservation and Enhancement Account. Existing law authorizes contributions to be made to this account pursuant to these provisions until January 1, 2018, or until an earlier date if specified minimum contributions are not received. Existing law requires all moneys contributed to this account pursuant to these provisions to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for the costs of collection and administration of the funds, and to the Department of Fish and Wildlife for specified purposes. This bill would authorize contributions to be made to this account pursuant to these provisions until January 1, 2025, or until an earlier date if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will not at least equal the minimum contribution amount of $250,000. The bill would instead require moneys contributed to this account pursuant to these provisions to be continuously appropriated and allocated for the above-specified purposes. This bill would also allow an individual to designate on his or her tax return that a specified amount in excess of his or her tax liability be transferred to the Native California Wildlife Rehabilitation Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fund when another voluntary designation is removed from the form or there is space, whichever occurs first. The bill would require money contributed to the fund to be continuously appropriated and allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and to the Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish a competitive grant program for the purposes of the recovery and rehabilitation of injured, sick, or orphaned wildlife, and conservation education, as specified. The bill would authorize a maximum of 5% of the funds allocated to the Department of Fish and Wildlife to be used by the department to defray administrative expenses. The bill would provide that these provisions would remain in effect only until January 1 of the 7th taxable year following the first appearance of the Native California Wildlife Rehabilitation Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund on the tax return, but would further provide for an earlier repeal if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will not at least equal the minimum contribution amount of $250,000, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Municipal Water District Law of 1911, provides for the formation of municipal water districts and grants to those districts specified powers. Existing law permits a district to acquire, control, distribute, store, spread, sink, treat, purify, recycle, recapture, and salvage any water for the beneficial use of the district, its inhabitants, or the owners of rights to water in the district. Existing law, upon the request of certain Indian tribes and the satisfaction of certain conditions, requires a district to provide service of water at substantially the same terms applicable to the customers of the district to the Indian tribe's lands that are not within a district, as prescribed. This bill would additionally authorize a district to apply to the applicable local agency formation commission to provide this service of water to Indian lands, as defined, that are not within the district. The bill would require the local agency formation commission to approve the application and authorize the commission to impose conditions on the district with regard to the extension of service. By imposing additional duties on local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a local agency formation commission from approving an application pursuant to the bill's provisions received on or after January 1, 2023, but would authorize a district that received authorization to extend water service to Indian lands before that date to continue to do so after that date. 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 law allows individuals, until January 1, 2018, to designate on their personal income tax return that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be contributed to the California Breast Cancer Research Fund, which is subject to appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board, the Controller, and the University of California for purposes of carrying out these provisions. Existing law also allows individuals, until January 1, 2018, to designate on their tax returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be contributed to the California Cancer Research Fund, which is subject to appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board, the Controller, and the University of California for purposes of carrying out these provisions. Existing law requires that each of these funds equal or exceed a minimum contribution amount, which initially was $250,000 and which was required to be and has been adjusted for inflation. Existing law provides that when extending the operation of these voluntary tax contribution funds the words "voluntary tax contribution" be included in the name of the fund, that the administering agency comply with specified Internet Web site reporting requirements, that the fund provisions remain in effect only until January 1 of the 7th calendar year following the first appearance of the voluntary tax contribution on the personal income tax return, that the required calendar year minimum contribution amount for the fund to continue appearing on the return is $250,000, and that the contributions be continuously appropriated from the fund to the administering entity. This bill would extend the operation of each fund's provisions to January 1, 2025, and would conform to the above provisions by renaming the funds as the California Breast Cancer Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund and the California Cancer Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, respectively, by continuously appropriating those funds to the Franchise Tax Board, the Controller, and the University of California for purposes of carrying out each fund's provisions, and by requiring each fund to equal or exceed an unadjusted $250,000 minimum contribution amount to continue appearing on the return. By continuously appropriating these funds, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would also provide that the Legislature requests the University of California and the Regents of the University of California, respectively, to post on their Internet Web sites the process for awarding money, the amount of money spent on administration, and an itemization of how program funds were awarded, including, but not limited to, information regarding recipients of funds.
Existing federal law, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) , requires the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to certify and regulate clinical laboratories that perform testing on humans. Existing law also provides for the licensure and regulation of clinical laboratories and various clinical laboratory personnel by the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, the department inspects clinical laboratories and assesses a fee for licensure of those facilities. This bill would temporarily suspend the annual renewal fee for clinical laboratory licenses until January 1, 2020.
This measure would recognize September 11, 2017, as a day of solemn commemoration and extend the Legislature's deepest sympathies to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Existing law provides for apprenticeship programs within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, sponsored by specific entities and employers, and requires the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to perform various functions with respect to apprenticeship programs and the welfare of apprentices. This bill would require the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, in collaboration with the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee (CAL-JAC) , to develop a statewide firefighter preapprenticeship program designed to recruit candidates from underrepresented groups. This bill would require the preapprenticeship program to meet specified objectives. This bill would also require CAL-JAC to deliver the pilot classes established by the preapprenticeship program using existing facilities and training models. This bill would require CAL-JAC to provide the program model to fire protection agencies, and would authorize a fire protection agency to then use that model and related resources to establish a local preapprenticeship program for recruiting candidates from underrepresented groups. This bill would reference an appropriation made in the Budget Act of 2017–18 to the division to establish the preapprenticeship program and would require the division to use those funds for specified purposes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would recognize the importance of civic engagement across the State of California.
Existing law authorizes, the prosecution to apply for an order that a victim's testimony at the preliminary hearing be video recorded and the video recording preserved when the defendant has been charged with certain sex crimes, including rape and sodomy, and the victim is a person 15 years of age or less or is developmentally disabled as a result of an intellectual disability. This bill would also authorize the prosecution to apply for an order that a victim's testimony at the preliminary hearing be video recorded and preserved when the defendant has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years of age or charged with sexual intercourse, sodomy, sexual penetration, or oral copulation with a child under 10 years of age.
Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge children to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of his or her parents or guardian, and establishes procedures to determine the temporary and permanent placement of a dependent child. Whenever a court orders a hearing to terminate parental rights to, or to establish legal guardianship of, a dependent child to be held, existing law requires the court to direct the agency supervising the child and the county adoption agency, or the State Department of Social Services when it is acting as an adoption agency, to prepare an assessment and requires this assessment to include, among other things, a preliminary assessment of the eligibility and commitment of any identified prospective adoptive parent or legal guardian, as specified. Existing law authorizes the court under specified circumstances to hold a hearing to determine whether parental rights should be permanently terminated, and requires the court, after reviewing the assessment described above, to make findings and orders in a specified order of preference regarding the permanent placement of the child, including appointment of a relative or nonrelative legal guardian. If the court finds that legal guardianship is the appropriate permanent plan, existing law requires the court to appoint the legal guardian and issue letters of guardianship. Existing law requires the court, prior to the appointment of a guardian for the child, to read and consider the assessment described above. This bill would authorize the assessment of a legal guardian described above to also include the naming of a prospective successor guardian if one is identified. The bill, in the event of the incapacity or death of an appointed guardian, would authorize the named successor guardian to be assessed and appointed pursuant to the existing procedures that govern the appointment of a legal guardian. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 366.26 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 976 to be operative only if this bill and AB 976 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
This measure would proclaim the month of September 2017 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and state the commitment of the Legislature to support efforts to find cures for, and achieve prevention of, childhood cancer.