Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. California regional water quality control boards are required to establish water quality objectives in water quality control plans. Under existing law, a local agency, by ordinance, may limit the availability, or prohibit the installation, of residential water softening or conditioning appliances that discharge to the community sewer system if the local agency makes certain findings and includes them in the ordinance. This bill would authorize any local agency that owns or operates a community sewer system or water recycling facility, within specified areas of the state, to take action, by ordinance or resolution, after a public hearing on the matter, to control salinity inputs from residential self-regenerating water softeners to protect the quality of the waters of the state, if the appropriate regional board makes a finding that the control of residential salinity input will contribute to the achievement of water quality objectives. The bill would state related findings and declarations of the Legislature, including findings and declarations concerning the need for special legislation.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law establishes the CalHome Program under the administration of the Department of Housing and Community Development and authorizes funds appropriated for purposes of the program to be used to enable low- and very low income households to become or remain homeowners. The program authorizes the use of grant funds for, among other things, home rehabilitation. Existing administrative regulations require installation of an ignition resistant construction system only when a manufactured home, mobilehome, multifamily manufactured home, or commercial modular is installed in designated areas. This bill would provide that home rehabilitation includes the installation or retrofit of ignition resistant exterior components on existing manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and accessory structures required pursuant to specified administrative regulations. The bill would prohibit rehabilitation funding for these purposes under a specified circumstance. (2) Under the CalHome Program, the department provides the program funds to local public agencies or nonprofit corporations as either grants or loans to assist home ownership and requires them to meet prescribed criteria. In administering the program, the department is authorized to permit local public agencies and nonprofit corporations to apply their own guidelines with respect to the use of CalHome funds. This bill would prohibit a local public agency and a nonprofit corporation from denying funding or applying different underwriting guidelines to a housing program or project solely on the basis that the home is a manufactured home or mobilehome or the home is located in a mobilehome park or a manufactured housing community. (3) Existing law requires the California Housing Finance Agency to administer the California Homebuyer's Downpayment Assistance Program for the purpose of assisting first-time low- and moderate-income home buyers utilizing existing mortgage financing. Under the program, the amount of the downpayment assistance is due and payable at the end of the term or upon sale of or refinancing of the home. This bill would authorize the agency, in its discretion, to permit the downpayment assistance loan to be subordinated to refinancing if it determines that certain criteria have been met. The bill would authorize the agency to permit subordination on those terms and conditions as it determines are reasonable. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act defines and regulates common interest developments and authorizes the association that manages the development to levy assessments to fulfill its obligations. The act establishes limits on the percentage by which an association may increase regular and special assessments based on the amounts of those assessments in the preceding fiscal year. This bill would prohibit an association from levying assessments on separate interests within the common interest development based on the taxable value of the separate interests unless the association, on or before December 31, 2009, in accordance with its declaration, levied assessments on those separate interests based on their taxable value, as determined by the tax assessor of the county in which the separate interests are located. The bill would provide an exception for an association that is responsible for paying taxes on the separate interests within the development.
Under existing law, the Department of Veterans Affairs has specified powers and duties relating to various programs serving veterans. This bill would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot project for the purpose of establishing a cooperative housing project, as provided. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe the rules, regulations, and conditions necessary to implement the pilot project. The bill would require that any cooperative housing project established pursuant to those provisions be restricted for use and occupancy by military veterans and their families for a period of at least 55 years.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows taxpayers, until January 1, 2010, to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of the California Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Research Fund. This bill would extend the operation of those contribution provisions to January 1, 2015.
(1) The Passenger Charter-Party Carriers Act, with certain exceptions, prohibits a charter-party carrier of passengers from engaging in transportation services subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission without obtaining a specified certificate or permit, as appropriate, from the commission. The act makes it unlawful, among other things, for the owner of a charter-party carrier of passengers to permit the operation of any vehicle upon any public highway for compensation without having obtained from the commission a certificate or permit, as specified, pursuant to the act. This bill would require the commission to permanently revoke the authority to operate a charter-party carrier or to permanently bar from receiving a permit or certificate from the commission a charter-party carrier that, among other things, operates a bus without having been issued a permit from the commission, operates a bus with a permit that was suspended by the commission for specified reasons, has one or more buses improperly registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles, or knowingly employs a busdriver who has not been issued the required driver's license of the proper class, a passenger vehicle endorsement, or the required certificate to drive a bus. The bill also would suspend for a period of 5 years a person who drives a bus for a charter-party carrier without having been issued the proper driver's license of the proper class, passenger vehicle endorsement, or the required certificate from driving a bus of any kind. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to refuse to issue or renew, or to suspend or revoke, that person's passenger vehicle endorsement and would provide that such a person would be ineligible for a passenger vehicle endorsement that would permit him or her to drive a bus, as defined, for 5 years. The bill would also authorize a charter-party carrier subject to the bar described above, that has received a notice of refusal or revocation of its permit to operate pursuant to these provisions, to submit a written request for a specified hearing within 15 days after the mailing of the notice. The bill would authorize an officer of the Department of the California Highway Patrol to impound a bus of a charter-party carrier that is operating a bus without having been issued a permit or certificate from the commission, operates a bus with a suspended permit or certificate from the commission, or is operating a bus that is being driven by a driver to whom the appropriate driver's license of the proper class, a passenger vehicle endorsement, or the required certificate has not been issued. The bill would also prohibit the commission from issuing a new permit or certificate to operate a charter-party carrier if an officer, director, or owner of that charter-party carrier was an officer, director, or owner of a charter-party carrier that had its authority to operate as a charter-party carrier permanently revoked by the commission or was permanently barred from receiving a permit or certificate from the commission pursuant to these provisions. (2) Under existing law, a violation of the Passenger Charter-Party Carriers Act, or a violation of an order or direction of the commission issued pursuant to the act, is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of those provisions or of an order or decision of the commission implementing those provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes. (3) Existing law requires the clerk of a court in which a person was convicted of a violation of the Vehicle Code to prepare within 5 days after conviction and immediately forward to the Department of Motor Vehicles an abstract of the record of the court covering the case in which the person was so convicted. This bill would expand the Vehicle Code violations that the clerk of a court is required to report to the department to include violations of specified provisions of the Public Utilities Code, which include driving a bus for a charter-party carrier without having a current and valid driver's license of the proper class, a passenger vehicle endorsement, or the required certificate, as specified. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 1803 of the Vehicle Code proposed by AB 134, that would become operative only if AB 134 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2010, and this bill is chaptered last. (5) This bill would become operative only if AB 951 of the 2009–10 Regular Session is enacted and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2010. (6) 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.
(1) The Real Estate Law provides for the licensure and regulation of real estate brokers and salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to suspend or revoke the license of a real estate licensee or corporation, or to deny the issuance of a license to an applicant or corporation, for specified violations. This bill would further authorize the commissioner to suspend or revoke those licenses, or to deny issuance of those licenses, upon a violation of specified federal lending laws or regulations or upon the violation or failure to comply with specified provisions of state law relating to mortgages. (2) Existing law imposes certain limitations and prohibitions on licensed persons, as defined, with respect to the making of a covered loan, defined as a consumer loan in which the original principal balance of the loan does not exceed the most current conforming loan limit for a single-family first mortgage loan established by the Federal National Mortgage Association in the case of a mortgage or deed of trust, and as specified. Existing law does not regulate or define the term "higher-priced mortgage loan." This bill would establish "higher-priced mortgage loans," as defined, as a new category of regulated loans. The bill would, among other things, limit prepayment penalties and prohibit provisions for negative amortization. The bill would prohibit a licensed person, as defined, from making false, deceptive, or misleading statements or representations in connection with higher-priced mortgage loans. The bill would also, among other things, prohibit a mortgage broker, as defined, who arranges higher-priced mortgage loans with prepayment penalties from receiving a compensation that exceeds certain amounts. The bill would provide that a violation of the provisions regulating higher-priced mortgage loans by a licensed person is also a violation of the person's licensing law. The bill would authorize a licensing agency or the Attorney General to enforce the provisions regulating higher-priced mortgage loans. The bill would authorize civil penalties in an amount up to $10,000 against a licensed person who willfully and knowingly violates the provisions regulating higher-priced mortgage loans, and would nullify prepayment penalties or yield spread premiums that violate these provisions. The bill would also establish specified duties for mortgage brokers performing mortgage brokerage services for higher-priced mortgage loans. The bill's provisions would apply to higher-priced mortgage loans originated on or after July 1, 2010. (3) Existing law imposes certain limitations and prohibitions on specified licensees, including commercial banks, credit unions, finance lenders, and residential mortgage lenders, with respect to the making of consumer loans. This bill would provide that a violation of specified federal lending laws or regulations by those licensees is also a violation of the licensing law of the licensee. The bill would also provide that a mortgage broker, as defined, providing mortgage brokerage services, as defined, to a borrower is the fiduciary of the borrower, and any violation of the broker's fiduciary duties is a violation of the mortgage broker's licensing law and specified civil penalty and liability provisions. The bill would further provide that this fiduciary duty includes a requirement that the mortgage broker place the economic interest of the borrower ahead of his or her own economic interest. (4) Because a violation of the bill's provisions by certain licensees may be punished as crimes under the licensing law of the licensees, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The California Ocean Protection Act establishes the Ocean Protection Council in state government and provides that the council consists of the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Chair of the State Lands Commission, and 2 public members appointed by the Governor. The act requires the council, among other things, to coordinate activities of state agencies that are related to the protection and conservation of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems and to establish policies to coordinate the collection and sharing of scientific data related to coast and ocean resources between agencies. The act also creates the California Ocean Protection Council Trust Fund in the State Treasury and authorizes moneys deposited in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the council for projects and activities authorized by the council consistent with the purposes of the act. This bill would require the council to develop and implement a specified voluntary sustainable seafood promotion program. The program would, among other things, consist of a protocol to guide entities on how to be independently certified to internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood, as defined, a marketing assistance program, and a competitive grant and loan program. It would prohibit seafood produced through aquaculture or fish farming from being certified as sustainable under these provisions until nationally or internationally accepted sustainability standards have been developed and implemented. The bill also would provide that moneys in the trust fund may be expended for grants or loans to a private entity for projects or activities that further public purposes consistent with the voluntary sustainable seafood promotion program.
(1) Existing property tax law provides, pursuant to a specified provision of the California Constitution, for a homeowner's property tax exemption in the amount of $7,000 of the full value of a "dwelling," as defined. This bill would also provide that any dwelling that qualified for the exemption prior to the commencement dates of the wildfires that were the subject of the Governor's proclamations in October 2008, November 2008, and May 2009, that was damaged or destroyed by the wildfires in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara, and that has not changed ownership since the commencement date of those wildfires, may not be denied the exemption solely on the basis that the dwelling was temporarily damaged or destroyed or was being reconstructed by the owner, or was temporarily uninhabited as a result of restricted access to the property due to wildfires. The California Constitution requires the Legislature, in each fiscal year, to reimburse local governments for the revenue losses incurred by those governments in that fiscal year as a result of the homeowners' property tax exemption. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to make this required reimbursement in the annual Budget Act. By requiring local tax officials to implement new exemption criteria, 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. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law provide for the carryover to specified taxable years of specified losses sustained as a result of certain disasters occurring in California in an area determined by the President of the United States to warrant specified federal assistance, or proclaimed by the Governor to be in a state of emergency. This bill would extend these provisions to losses sustained in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara as a result of the wildfires that commenced in October 2008, November 2008, or May 2009. This bill would authorize a taxpayer to make an election to claim a deduction for those losses on the tax return for the preceding year. (3) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income recipients. Existing law creates the Healthy Families Program, administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, to arrange for the provision of health care services to children less than 19 years of age who meet certain criteria, including having a limited gross household income. Existing law imposes various taxes, including a tax at a specified rate on the gross premiums of an insurer, as defined. AB 1422 of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature would, until January 1, 2011, impose that tax on the total operating revenue, as specified, of a Medi-Cal managed care plan, as defined. AB 1422 of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature would continuously appropriate the proceeds from the tax (A) to the department for purposes of the Medi-Cal program in an amount equal to 38.41% of the proceeds from the tax and (B) to the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board for purposes of the Healthy Families Program in an amount equal to 61.59% of the proceeds from the tax. This bill, if AB 1422 is enacted and becomes operative during the 2009 portion of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature, would create the Children's Health and Human Services Special Fund in the State Treasury, into which revenues derived from the tax on Medi-Cal managed care plans, net of refunds, would be deposited. This bill would require the moneys in the fund to be used exclusively for the purposes of the Medi-Cal program and the Healthy Families Program, as prescribed in AB 1422.
(1) Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to refuse to pay tolls or other charges on any vehicular crossing or toll highway and provides that it is prima facie evidence of a violation of this provision for any person to enter upon any vehicular crossing without either lawful money of the United States in the person's immediate possession in an amount sufficient to pay the prescribed tolls or other charges due from that person or a transponder or other electronic toll payment device associated with a valid Automatic Vehicle Identification account with a balance sufficient to pay those tolls. A violation of these provisions is an infraction. This bill would require an issuing agency that permits pay-by-plate toll payment to communicate, as practicable, the pay-by-plate toll amount in the same manner as it communicates other toll payment methods and provide certain publicly available information on how pay-by-plate toll payment works. The bill would additionally provide that, for vehicular crossings and toll highways where the issuing agency permits pay-by-plate toll payment of tolls and other charges in accordance with policies adopted by the issuing agency, it is prima facie evidence of a toll evasion violation for a person to enter the vehicular crossing or toll highway without at least one of the following: (A) lawful money of the United States in the person's immediate possession in an amount sufficient to pay the prescribed tolls or other charges due from that person, or (B) a transponder or other electronic toll payment device associated with a valid Automatic Vehicle Identification account with a balance sufficient to pay those tolls, or (C) valid California vehicle license plates properly affixed to both the front and rear of the vehicle in which that person enters onto the vehicular crossing or toll highway. Where electronic toll collection is the only other method of paying tolls or other charges, the bill would provide that it is prima facie evidence of a toll evasion violation for a person to enter the vehicular crossing or toll highway without either (i) a transponder or other electronic toll payment device associated with a valid Automatic Vehicle Identification account with a balance sufficient to pay those tolls, or (ii) valid California vehicle license plates properly affixed to both the front and rear of the vehicle in which that person enters onto the vehicular crossing or toll highway. (2) Existing law provides that the officer or person authorized to issue a notice of toll evasion violation is not required to participate in an administrative review of the toll evasion violation and that the issuing agency is not required to produce any evidence other than the notice of toll evasion violation or a copy thereof, information received from the department identifying the registered owner of the vehicle, and a statement under penalty of perjury from the person reporting the violations. Under existing law perjury is a crime. This bill would require instead, for a toll evasion violation that occurs on a vehicular crossing or toll highway where the issuing agency allows pay-by-plate toll payment, that the required evidence consisting of a statement be from the officer or person authorized to issue a notice of toll evasion and include a statement that the tolls or other charges and any applicable fee were not paid in accordance with the issuing agency's policies for pay-by-plate toll processing and payment. The bill would not require that this statement be made under penalty of perjury. The bill would require that any officer or person who knowingly provides false information pursuant to this provision be subject to a civil penalty for each violation in the amount of $250 up to a maximum amount of $2,500. The bill would also authorize any public prosecutor to bring an action for a civil penalty in the name of the people of the State of California. (3) Existing law requires that any information obtained through the use of automated devices shall not be used for any purpose other than to identify, and obtain the mailing address information of, toll evasion violators, to facilitate the serving of notices of toll evasion violations and notices of delinquent toll evasion violations. This bill would additionally provide that this information shall not be used for any purpose other than to identify, and obtain the mailing address information of, persons entering a vehicular crossing and toll highway where pay-by-plate toll payment is permitted by the toll operator to facilitate the collection of tolls. (4) The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive, and conforming changes to these provisions. Because the bill would create new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) 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.