Sen. Bob Wieckowski

This measure would proclaim the month of March of every year as Read Across California Month and request that public and private stakeholders work together to raise awareness of the importance of reading to young children and the importance of independent reading among our pupils and citizens of California by encouraging everyone to read for 30 minutes for 30 days during the month of March of every year, in conjunction with the Read Across America campaign held annually on March 2.

(1) Existing law generally prohibits any person from disposing of latex paint, unless authorized, but allows recyclable latex paint to be accepted at any location if specified requirements are met concerning the management of that paint. Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control to allow a household hazardous waste collection facility to accept hazardous waste from a conditionally exempt small quantity generator (CESQG) under specified conditions. A violation of the requirements concerning hazardous waste is a crime. This bill would allow a permanent household hazardous waste collection facility that is authorized to accept hazardous waste from a CESQG to accept recyclable latex paint from any generator, notwithstanding specified provisions and regulations, if the permanent household hazardous waste collection facility complies with certain requirements. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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.

This measure would recognize June 19, 2011, as Veterans of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Day, in memory of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy and the victims of the Vietnam War, and in honor of the survivors, activists, and freedom fighters of that war.

This measure would recognize March 31, 2011, as the anniversary of the birth of César Chávez, and would call upon all Californians to participate in appropriate observances to remember César Chávez as a symbol of hope and justice to all persons.

This measure would continue designation and observance of the month of October as Italian American Heritage Month. This measure would also encourage the Legislature to continue the Italian American Legislator Project and welcome the exhibit "The Italian American Legislator Project of 2011: A Legacy of Service to the California Legislature" to the State Capitol Building in October 2011 and encourage all Californians, through the K–12 curriculum and otherwise, to learn about the history, role, and contributions of Italian Americans to the State of California.

The Unruh Civil Rights Act generally prohibits business establishments from discriminating on specified bases. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination in housing and employment on specified bases. Existing law prohibits discrimination on specified bases against any person in any program or activity conducted, operated, or administered by the state or by any state agency, or that is funded directly by the state, or that receives any financial assistance from the state. This bill would further prohibit discrimination under the above-described provisions on the basis of genetic information, would define that term, and would making conforming changes. By expanding the bases upon which discrimination is prohibited under the above-described provisions to include genetic information, this bill would, except as specified, also expand the bases upon which discrimination is prohibited under other antidiscrimination provisions that prohibit discrimination on the same bases as provided for in the above-described provisions. Other antidiscrimination provisions include provisions pertaining to the provision of emergency services. Specifically, existing law prohibits the provision of emergency services and care in a health facility from being based upon, or affected by, among other things, any characteristic listed or defined in the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Additionally, existing law provides that as a condition of licensure, each hospital is required to adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination in the provision of emergency services and care based on, among other things, any characteristic listed or defined in the Unruh Civil Rights Act. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. By adding genetic information to the list of characteristics listed in the Unruh Civil Rights Act, this bill would expand the bases upon which a health facility may not discriminate in the provision of emergency services. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under FEHA, a person who holds an ownership interest of record in property that he or she believes is the subject of an unlawfully restrictive covenant based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, national origin, source of income, or ancestry, may record a Restrictive Covenant Modification, which existing law requires include a copy of the original document with the illegal language stricken. Before recording the modification document, existing law requires the county recorder to submit the modification document and the original document to the county counsel who is required to determine whether the original document contains an unlawful restriction based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, national origin, source of income, or ancestry. This bill would require the county counsel, additionally, to determine if there exists an unlawful restriction based on genetic information after county counsel receives the modification document and the original document from the county recorder. Under existing law, a county recorder, title insurance company, escrow company, real estate broker, real estate agent, or association that provides a copy of a declaration, governing document, or deed to any person is required to place a cover page or stamp on the previously recorded document stating that if the document contains an unlawful restriction, that restriction is void and may be removed by recording a Restrictive Covenant Modification. The bill would modify the information the county recorder is required to provide on the above-described cover page or stamp to reflect the changes this bill would make in prohibiting restrictions on the basis of genetic information. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 51 of the Civil Code, Section 3228 of the Education Code, and Sections 12920, 12921, 12926, 12930, 12931, 12935, 12940, 12944, 12955, 12955.8, 12956.1, and 12956.2 of the Government Code, proposed by AB 887, to be operative only if AB 887 and this bill are both enacted, both bills become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is enacted last. By creating new duties for county counsel and county recorders, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires any agency, and any person or business conducting business in California, that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information, as defined, to disclose in specified ways, any breach of the security of the system or data, as defined, following discovery or notification of the security breach, to any California resident whose unencrypted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person. This bill would require any agency, person, or business that is required to issue a security breach notification pursuant to existing law to fulfill certain additional requirements pertaining to the security breach notification, as specified. The bill would also require any agency, person, or business that is required to issue a security breach notification to more than 500 California residents pursuant to existing law to electronically submit a single sample copy of that security breach notification to the Attorney General, as specified. This bill would provide that a covered entity under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is deemed to have complied with these provisions, if it has complied with existing federal law, as specified. The bill would also incorporate additional changes made by the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 2009.

Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, sets forth the procedures for incorporations and changes of organizations of cities, including procedures for disincorporation. This bill would provide that every city with a population of less than 150 people as of January 1, 2010, would be disincorporated into that city's respective county as of 91 days after the effective date of the bill, unless a county board of supervisors determines, by majority vote within the 90-day period following enactment of these provisions, that continuing such a city within that county's boundaries would serve a public purpose if the board of supervisors determines that the city is in an isolated rural location that makes it impractical for the residents of the community to organize in another form of local governance. The bill would also require the local agency formation commission within the county to oversee the terms and conditions of the disincorporation of the city, as specified. The bill would become operative only if AB 781 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is enacted.

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, until a cut off date in which a maximum cumulative credit of $400,000,000 has been reached 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, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, would expand the definition of "qualified employer" to mean a taxpayer that employed 50 or fewer employees as of the last day of the preceding taxable year. 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.