(1) The Horse Racing Law establishes the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Program for standardbred horses bred in California, and provides that an offspring of a registered California standardbred stallion standing in California during an entire breeding season is eligible to race in the program. This bill would expand eligibility to race in the program to include the offspring of registered standardbred stallions standing in Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, or Wisconsin, or the Province of Alberta, Canada. (2) The Horse Racing Law requires the California Horse Racing Board to set a schedule of races for the program in accordance with specified requirements, including, among other things, that races be scheduled by the California Standardbred Sires Stakes Committee, at its discretion, for 2-year-old and 3-year-old trotters, as specified, and that 2- and 3-year-old races be divided into colt and filly divisions. This bill would instead require that races be scheduled for 2-year-old or 3-year-old trotters and would delete the requirement that 2- and 3-year-old races be divided into colt and filly divisions. (3) The Horse Racing Law also establishes the manner of dividing the purse in California standardbred sires stakes races, and sets forth the percentages to be allocated for horses placing in the race based on the number of participating starters in a race. This bill would establish the percentages to be allocated for horses finishing in 1st to 5th place, inclusive, regardless of the number of starters in the race.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to disburse funds, appropriated to the department for the purpose of supporting county veterans service officers pursuant to the annual Budget Act, on a pro rata basis, to a county that complies with certain conditions. This bill would require the department, no later than July 1, 2016, to develop an allocation formula based upon performance standards that encourage innovation and reward outstanding service by county veterans service officers, and would require those moneys to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in accordance with that formula, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually report to the Legislature the efficacy, return on investment, work volume, and regional impact of the subvention funds on each county that receives those funds, as specified. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions and would make conforming changes.
Existing law creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , the Judges' Retirement System, and the Judges' Retirement System II, all of which are administrated by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Existing law permits a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System to elect from among several optional settlements for the purpose of structuring his or her retirement allowance, which may result in a reduction of the allowance paid to the member in relation to the payments to his or her beneficiary after the member's death. Existing law includes among these options the following: optional settlement 1, which provides for payment of a retirement allowance until death and the payment of any remaining contributions at death to his or her beneficiary or estate; optional settlement 2, which provides an allowance for life to the member and thereafter to his or her beneficiary; optional settlement 3, which provides an allowance for life to the member and thereafter 1/2 of his or her allowance to his or her beneficiary; optional settlement 4, which provides for such other benefits that are the actuarial equivalent of a member's retirement allowance, subject to approval of the board and that the benefits payable not exceed actuarial equivalent of benefits under optional settlement 2, as specified; and optional settlement 5, which provides for a partial present distribution of the actuarial present value of a portion of a member's unmodified monthly allowance, as specified. Existing law entitles a member to elect certain variations within these settlements and, in certain instances, to a recalculated, increased allowance if the beneficiary predeceases the member, subject to a specified, sinking percentage. Existing law similarly permits a member of the Judges' Retirement System or the Judges' Retirement System II to select from various optional settlements for the purpose of structuring his or her retirement benefits. This bill would limit the application of the optional settlements and variations described above to PERS members who retire on or before December 31, 2017. For members who retire on or after January 1, 2018, the bill would revise and recast the optional retirement settlements, which would be termed the Return of Remaining Contributions Option 1, the 100 Percent Beneficiary Option 2, the 100 Percent Beneficiary Option 2 with Benefit Allowance Increase, the 50 Percent Beneficiary Option 3, the 50 Percent Beneficiary Option 3 with Benefit Allowance Increase, and the Flexible Beneficiary Option 4. The bill would revise and bring forward various administrative provisions in connection with these settlements, including those relating to adjustments of actuarial equivalents by the board, the effective dates for elections and revocations and dates of payments, the effect of dissolution of marriage, and of a beneficiary predeceasing a member, among others. The bill would similarly limit application of current optional settlements and variations described above to members of the Judges' Retirement System or the Judges' Retirement System II who retire on or before December 31, 2017, and would provide to members of those systems who retire on and after January 1, 2018, optional retirement settlements analogous to those provided to PERS members, as described above. The bill would make conforming and technical changes.
This measure would proclaim August 8, 2016, to August 12, 2016, inclusive, as Concrete Pipe Week.
This measure would proclaim April 12, 2016, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.
This measure would encourage teaching sun safety practices to children to enable them to identify the importance of sun safety, practice strategies to protect against the harmful effects of the sun, and understand why and how to stay safe from overexposure to the sun.
This measure would recognize the contributions of the California Conservation Corps on the 40th anniversary of its creation.
This measure would recognize the month of June 2016 as Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, would recognize June 21, 2016, as The Longest Day in California, and would urge all residents to wear purple on this day to help spread global awareness of the Alzheimer's Association's vision of imagining a world without Alzheimer's disease.
This measure would recognize the year of 2016 as the 50th anniversary of California's community-based developmental services system, and would reaffirm the commitment of the Legislature to support this system. This measure would declare the importance of ensuring a sustainable system that protects the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities.