Sen. Bob Wieckowski

Existing law imposes various requirements with respect to contracting by state agencies. This bill would require a state agency that accepts bids or proposals for a contract for the purchase or installation of a solar photovoltaic system, as defined, to provide a 5% preference to a business that certifies that all of the solar panels installed as part of the solar photovoltaic system have been manufactured or assembled in California, in accordance with specified criteria.

Under existing law, an employer is required to withhold the amounts provided by an earnings withholding order from all earnings of the employee payable for any pay period that ends during the withholding period. Existing law permits a judgment debtor to claim an exemption from earnings withholding if no prior hearing has been held concerning the earnings withholding order, or if there has been a material change in circumstances since the last hearing concerning the earnings withholding order. A creditor is entitled to a hearing on a judgment debtor's claim of exemption from earnings withholding to satisfy a money judgment if the creditor files a notice of opposition to the claim of exemption. This bill would require, after a judgment debtor files the claim of exemption and financial statement with the levying officer, the levying officer to serve the judgment debtor's employer with a copy of the original earnings withholding order, a copy of the claim of exemption unaccompanied by the financial statement, and a signed instruction ordering the employer to adjust the amount of earnings withheld to reflect the amount of additional earnings that the judgment debtor asserts are exempt. If the judgment debtor's claim of exemption asserts that all of his or her earnings are exempt, the instruction would order the employer to reduce the amount of earnings withheld to zero. The bill would further require the employer to comply with the provisions of the signed instruction. Under this bill, if the judgment creditor does not file a timely notice of opposition to the claim of exemption, the levying officer would be required to serve notice upon the employer to continue withholding earnings in compliance with the claim of exemption. This bill would also provide that if, after a hearing, the court denies the judgment debtor's claim in whole or in part, the clerk is required to transmit, or provide by mail, facsimile, e-mail, or other electronic means, a copy of the court's order to the levying officer, who must promptly serve a notice to the judgment debtor's employer detailing the court's order concerning the earnings withholdings. Additionally, this bill would provide that these provisions would become operative on July 1, 2013, and would require the Judicial Council to adopt any necessary revisions to notices, claims of exemptions, orders, or other specified documents on or before that date. By increasing the duties of local ministerial officers relating to the service of process and notice, 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.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, in the amount of $3,000 for each full-time employee hired by a qualified employer, with a maximum cumulative credit of $400,000,000 for all taxable years. Those laws define "qualified employer" as a taxpayer that employed 20 or fewer employees as of the last day of the preceding taxable year. This bill would, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, redefine "qualified employer" to mean a disabled veteran business enterprise, a disadvantaged business enterprise, a microbusiness, or a small business, respectively, as defined and redefine "qualified full-time employee," as provided. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

(1) Existing law, added by Proposition 6, an initiative measure enacted by voters at the June 8, 1982, statewide primary election (hereafter the initiative measure) , prohibits the imposition of any tax on or by reason of any transfer occurring by reason of death, but imposes a California estate tax, commonly referred to as the "pick up tax" equal to a certain portion of the maximum allowable amount of credit for state death taxes allowable under the applicable federal estate tax law. Due to changes in federal law, the pick up tax became inoperative as of January 1, 2005. Existing law, for the 2010–11 fiscal year, reduces an appropriation from the General Fund to the Controller for subvention payments to counties under the Williamson Act from $10,000,000 to zero. This bill would declare the Legislature's intent to propose an amendment to the initiative measure to provide a state sales and use tax exemption for purchases of manufacturing equipment used in the manufacturing process and to use the revenue generated from imposing a California estate tax to fully fund the Williamson Act subventions and to supplant the reduction of General Fund revenue resulting from the exemption for purchases of manufacturing equipment. The bill would propose to the voters of the state a repeal of the provision of the initiative measure prohibiting the imposition of a tax on or by reason of any transfer occurring by reason of death. The proposed amendment to the initiative measure would impose an estate tax upon the transfer of property of every decedent with an estate valued at more than $1,000,000, in accordance with specified criteria and procedures, during the timeframe for which the California pick up tax provisions are inoperative. The proposed amendment would also require the Controller to administer and collect the tax imposed, and would require the personal representative of every estate subject to the tax to file with the Controller a return and to pay the tax in the form prescribed by the Controller. The proposed amendment would make the personal representative of a decedent's estate personally liable for payment of the estate tax, and would provide that any personal representative failing to perform these duties shall forfeit any right to payment for settling the estate. The tax imposed by the proposed amendment would be a special lien upon the gross estate of a decedent, extinguishable as specified. Pursuant to those provisions, no tax would be imposed for any period for which a federal estate tax is payable to the United States and federal tax laws allow a credit for state death taxes in an amount that would otherwise be imposed. (2) Existing law establishes the Estate Tax Fund and continuously appropriates the moneys in the fund to pay refunds for estate taxes and generation skipping transfer taxes, as specified, with the balance of the money in that fund being transferred to the unappropriated surplus in the General Fund, upon order of the Controller. This bill would propose to the voters an amendment of the initiative measure to reallocate the moneys in the Estate Tax Fund, whereby those moneys would be continuously appropriated to pay refunds for estate taxes, including those imposed upon estates valued at $1,000,000 or more, and generation skipping transfer taxes. The amendment to the initiative measure would further provide that after payment of refunds, those moneys shall be continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal year, to make subvention payments to counties under the Williamson Act, and the remaining balance of the moneys in the fund shall be transferred to the unappropriated surplus in the General Fund. The amendment to the initiative measure would additionally propose to exempt from the estate tax the value of specified agricultural real property and agricultural personal property, if certain conditions are met. (3) The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, and provides various exemptions from the taxes imposed by that law. The bill would propose an amendment to the initiative measure to exempt from those sales and use taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of, tangible personal property, as defined, purchased for use by a qualified person, as defined, to be used in manufacturing, processing, refining, fabricating, recycling of property, or other specified processes, and tangible personal property purchased for use by a contractor for specified purposes, as provided. This amendment would specify that this exemption does not apply to local sales and use taxes, transactions and use taxes, and specified state sales and use taxes. The amendment would permit its provisions to be amended by a bill passed by a 23 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature and signed by the Governor. (4) Existing law prohibits amendment of the initiative measure by the Legislature unless the amendment is approved by the voters. This bill would call a special election to be consolidated with the next statewide general election. It would condition the amendment of the initiative measure upon voter approval, and would require the Secretary of State to submit the provisions of the bill that amend the initiative statute to the voters for their approval at the next consolidated statewide election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an act calling an election.

The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 establishes various programs providing a range of services to homeless people, including the Emergency Shelter Grants Program. Under that program, state and local governments are eligible to apply for federal grant funds for distribution to local government agencies or private nonprofit organizations responsible for direct implementation of eligible activities under the program. The federal Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 amended the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act by, among other things, recasting the Emergency Shelter Grants Program as the Emergency Solutions Grant Program, and shifting more resources available under that program toward homelessness prevention. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt regulations for the distribution of the unobligated balance of federal Emergency Solutions Grant Program funds received by the state, if any, taking into account specified considerations relating to homelessness.

Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. Existing law requires the board of governors to charge an annual membership fee for active members of up to $315 for 2011. This bill would require the board to charge that annual membership fee for active members for 2012.

The State Teachers' Retirement Law limits the amount of postretirement compensation that may be earned in specified types of employment by a retired member of the Defined Benefit Program without a reduction in the retirement benefits of the member. That law provides exemptions from this limit and until June 30, 2012, specifies that the limitation provisions do not apply to compensation earned by a member retired for service who has returned to work after retirement and, for at least 12 consecutive months, has not performed specified activities. That law also exempts from the earnings limitation, until June 30, 2012, service performed by a retired member in an emergency situation to fill a vacant administrative position, as specified. Under that law, operative until June 30, 2010, the service retirement allowance of a retired member of the Defined Benefit Program is exempt from a reduction if the retired member is appointed as a trustee or administrator by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for a maximum period of 2 years, as specified. This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until June 30, 2014. Existing law further exempts from the earnings limitation, until June 30, 2012, compensation received by a retired member providing specified types of services, including direct remedial instruction, as specified, if that retired member retired on or before January 1, 2009. This bill would provide that the compensation received by a retired member providing those specified types of services is exempt from the earnings limitation if the member retired for service with an effective date on or before January 1, 2011. The bill would extend these provisions until June 30, 2014. The bill would also delete a reference to an obsolete program.

The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state in the amount of 1% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided, for a specified amount of time. Existing law also, until June 30, 2011, imposes an additional tax equal to 0.15% of the market value of specified vehicles, as determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, to the vehicle license fee, to be deposited in the General Fund and transferred to the Local Safety and Protection Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would repeal the provision relating to the sunset date and repeal of the additional 0.15% tax, thereby depositing additional moneys into a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, in the amount of $3,000 for each full-time employee hired by a qualified employer, with a maximum cumulative credit of $400,000,000 for all taxable years. Those laws define "qualified employer" as a taxpayer that employed 20 or fewer employees as of the last day of the preceding taxable year. This bill would, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, redefine "qualified employer" to mean a disabled veteran business enterprise, a disadvantaged business enterprise, a microbusiness, or a small business, respectively, as defined, redefine "qualified full-time employee," as provided, and increase the amount of credit allowed for each qualified full-time employee to either $4,500 or $9,100, as provided. This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.