The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including, among other things, the harvesting of only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level. However, existing law permits the removal of trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter to achieve the goal of fuel reduction if the removal of any such tree is within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter. This bill would, instead, exempt the removal of trees less than 28 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level. However, the bill would permit the removal of trees less than 28 inches in stump diameter to achieve the goal of fuel reduction if the removal of any such tree is within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing only trees less than 28 inches in stump diameter.
Sponsored bills
Under existing law, there are 4 segments of postsecondary education in this state: the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education. Existing law, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, regulates the operations of private postsecondary educational institutions, as defined, some of which are not accredited. Existing federal law, the Higher Education Opportunity Act, requires postsecondary institutions whose students receive certain federally funded, or federally insured or guaranteed, student loans to provide, among other services, entrance and exit counseling to students with specified information about these loans. This bill would require each campus of the 4 segments listed above, and private postsecondary educational institutions subject to the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, to provide entrance and exit counseling, as specified, with respect to any student loans offered by the institution or a private lender or recommended to the student by the institution or segment. The bill would also allow an institution to assess a reasonable fee to the lender, not exceeding $50, in order to defray the cost of additional counseling. The bill would not apply to federally funded, federally insured, or federally guaranteed loans for which counseling is required by the federal Higher Education Opportunity Act.
The Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) governs the terms and conditions of residency in mobilehome parks, and includes provisions that are applicable to those who have an ownership interest in a subdivision, cooperative, or condominium for mobilehomes, or a resident-owned mobilehome park, as specified. Among other things, these provisions set forth the rights of residents and homeowners regarding the use of the property. This bill would enact the Mobilehome Residency Law Mediation Act within the MRL to establish a mediation program for alleged violations of the MRL, including investigation of alleged violations of the MRL and determination and notice of violations, to be administered by an unspecified department. The bill would establish the Mobilehome Residency Law Mediation Fund, for funds collected by the Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the bill. The bill would impose a unspecified monetary assessment on owners of mobilehome parks, and would authorize an owner to impose an unspecified portion of that assessment on homeowners.
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, provides various exclusions from gross income in computing tax liability. This bill would, in modified conformity with federal income tax law, provide that gross income does not include 50% of any gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock, as defined, held for more than 5 years, as provided. This bill would declare that the retroactive application of this provision serves a public purpose. This bill would make an appropriation from the General Fund of an amount sufficient to make the refunds required pursuant to the changes in law made by this act, including by providing for the waiver of interest and penalties. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would designate that January 20, 2014, be observed as the official memorial of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth and commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America. This measure would also recognize the anniversaries of the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington in connection with the advancement of civil rights.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide coverage for all generally medically accepted cancer screening tests and requires those contracts and policies to also provide coverage for the treatment of breast cancer. Existing law imposes various requirements on contracts and policies that cover prescription drug benefits. This bill would prohibit an individual or group health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2015, that provides coverage for prescribed, orally administered anticancer medications used to kill or slow the growth of cancerous cells from requiring an enrollee or insured to pay, notwithstanding any deductible, a total amount of copayments and coinsurance that exceeds $200 for an individual prescription of up to a 30-day supply of a prescribed orally administered anticancer medication. The bill would provide that for a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that meets a specified federal definition of a high deductible health plan, this prohibition shall only apply once the enrollee's or insured's deductible has been satisfied for the year. The bill would authorize a health care service plan or health insurer, on January 1, 2016, and on January 1 of each year thereafter, to increase the $200 limit by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for that year. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2019. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, 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.
Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to grant financial assistance, relief, and support to indigent veterans, as provided. Existing law requires that the assistance, relief, and support be administered through and by any military, naval, or marine organization created for the purpose of aiding, relieving, and supporting such veterans, as specified. This bill would authorize the governing board of a county to grant financial assistance, relief, and support to a disabled veteran, as defined.
Existing law, the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008, as approved by the voters, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $900,000,000, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, for purposes of financing the Cal-Vet program for farm, home, and mobilehome purchase assistance for veterans. This bill would amend the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008 to reduce the amount of bonds that are authorized to be issued under the act from $900,000,000 to $300,000,000. The bill would enact the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (the bond act) to authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600,000,000, as specified, for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide multifamily housing to veterans pursuant to the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 (VHHPA) , also enacted by the bill. The bill would authorize the Legislature to amend the provisions of the bond act, by majority vote, for specified purposes. The bill would impose a specified reporting requirement on the Department of Housing and Community Development to evaluate, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, any program established by the former pursuant to the VHHPA. The bill would authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide specified assistance to veterans. The bill would provide for submission of a specified section to the voters at the June 3, 2014, statewide primary election, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Department of Public Health to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. The department's duties include, but are not limited to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, adopting and enforcing regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to assess the quality of water in domestic water supplies. Existing law establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the department for grants and revolving fund loans for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water standards. Under existing law, a grant is authorized only to the extent the department finds the public agency or not-for-profit water company is unable to repay the full costs of a loan. This bill would limit loans and grants from the fund for planning and preliminary engineering studies, project design, and construction costs to those incurred by community and not-for-profit noncommunity public water systems and would specify that a small community water system or nontransient noncommunity water system that is owned by a public agency or a private not-for-profit water company and is serving a severely disadvantaged community, is deemed to have no ability to repay a loan. Under existing law, the maximum amount of a construction grant award to a public water system for a single project is $3 million or, for a public water system that serves a disadvantaged community, $10 million, as specified. This bill would authorize an applicant, subject to specified conditions, to receive up to the full cost of a project in the form of a loan.