Existing law provides certain protections and benefits for veterans. This bill would authorize the governing board of a county or city to grant financial assistance, relief, and support to disabled veterans, as defined, by waiving service-related fees charged by the county or city, as specified.
This measure would call upon all Californians to observe César Chávez's birthday, March 31, as a day of public service, to recognize the hard work and self-sacrifice that farmworkers go through to feed all the families in our state, and to learn from César Chávez's life and his mission of nonviolence, social justice, and selfless service to others.
This measure would designate the month of November 2012 as California Runaway and Homeless Youth Month and would recognize the need for individuals, schools, communities, businesses, local governments, and the state to take action on behalf of runaway and homeless youth in California.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law, relative to private energy producers, requires every electric utility, as defined, to make available to an eligible customer-generator, as defined, a standard contract or tariff for net energy metering on a first-come-first-served basis until the time that the total rated generating capacity used by eligible customer-generators exceeds 5% of the electric utility's aggregate customer peak demand. This bill would specify that an electric utility is also not obligated to provide net energy metering to additional eligible customer-generators that are public agencies whose facilities have a total capacity of more than one megawatt if the collective state-wide capacity of these customers exceeds 100 megawatts. The existing definition of an eligible customer-generator requires that the generator be a residential, small commercial, commercial, industrial, or agricultural customer of the electric utility, that the generating facility use a renewable source listed in the definition of a renewable electricity generation facility that is used for purposes of the Renewable Energy Resources Program administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, that the generating facility have a total capacity of not more than one megawatt, and that it meet certain locational and operational requirements. Existing law authorizes a local publicly owned electric utility to elect to provide co-energy metering, as defined, rather than net energy metering. This bill would include in the definition of an eligible customer-generator, a public agency customer, as defined, meeting the existing requirements applicable to residential, small commercial, commercial, industrial, or agricultural customers, except that that generation facility have a total capacity of not more than 2 megawatts. This bill would also require an eligible customer-generator that is a public agency whose facility or facilities has a total capacity of more than one megawatt to pay for an interconnection study associated with that customer, as well as any distribution grid upgrades found to be necessary by that study. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because an order of the commission would be required to implement certain of the bill's requirements and a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. Because the bill would expand the net energy metering or co-energy meeting requirements for local publicly owned electric utilities, 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 specified reasons.
This measure would proclaim California as a Purple Heart State, honoring the service and sacrifices of our nation's men and women in uniform wounded or killed by the enemy while serving to protect the freedoms enjoyed by all Americans.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program (Cal Grant Program) , establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. Existing law requires the commission to certify by October 1 of each year a qualifying institution's latest 3-year cohort default rate as most recently reported by the United States Department of Education and makes an otherwise qualifying institution ineligible for initial or renewal Cal Grant awards if the institution's 3-year cohort default rate is equal to or greater than a specified threshold. This bill would instead require qualifying institutions to calculate, as specified, and certify to the commission its student default risk index score by October 1 of each year. For purposes of the 2013–14 academic year, the bill would require the commission to determine the student default risk index score for each qualifying institution by January 31, 2013, as specified. The bill would make an otherwise qualifying institution ineligible for initial and renewal Cal Grant awards if the institution's student default risk index score exceeds a specified threshold.
This measure would proclaim April 15 through April 22, 2012, as California Holocaust Memorial Week and would urge Californians to observe these days of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust in an appropriate manner.
This measure would respectfully request Congress and the Department of Defense to remain committed to maintaining the 144th Fighter Wing and the Aerospace Control Alert mission in California in order to prevent any negative impacts to Southwest air defense operations, the California economy, and the ability of first responders to protect the residents of this state.
