Sen. Joseph Simitian

Existing law requires specified information to be sent to patients regarding their health care. Existing federal law requires a written report of the results of each mammography examination and requires a summary of that report to be sent to the patient within a specified time period. This bill, from April 1, 2012, until January 1, 2018, would require, under specified circumstances, a health facility at which a mammography examination is performed to include in the summary of the written report sent to the patient a specified notice on breast density.

(1) Existing law authorizes the limit line, intersection, or other places where a driver is required to stop to be equipped with an automated enforcement system, as defined, if the system meets certain requirements. Existing law authorizes a governmental agency to contract out the operation of the system under certain circumstances, except for specified activities, that include, among other things, establishing guidelines for selection of location. A violation of the Vehicle Code is a crime. This bill would require that those requirements include identifying the system by signs posted within 200 feet of an intersection where a system is operating. The bill would require that automated traffic enforcement systems installed as of January 1, 2012, be identified no later than January 1, 2013. The bill would require the governmental agency that operates an automated traffic enforcement system to develop uniform guidelines for specified purposes and to establish procedures to ensure compliance with those guidelines. The bill would require, for systems installed as of January 1, 2012, that a governmental agency that operates an automated traffic enforcement system establish those guidelines by January 1, 2013. The bill would require the governmental agency to adopt a finding of fact establishing the need for the system at a specific location for reasons related to safety for those systems installed after January 1, 2012. The bill would prohibit a governmental agency that proposes to install or operate an automated traffic enforcement system from considering revenue generation, beyond recovering its actual costs of operating the system, as a factor when considering whether or not to install or operate a system within its local jurisdiction. The bill would require the manufacturer or supplier that operates an automated traffic enforcement system, in cooperation with the governmental agency, to submit an annual report to the Judicial Council that includes specified information. (2) Existing law provides special written, mailed notice to appear procedures in connection with certain alleged violations recorded by an automated traffic enforcement system and provides that whenever a written notice to appear has been issued by a peace officer or by a qualified employee of a law enforcement agency on a form approved by the Judicial Council for an alleged traffic violation recorded by an automated traffic enforcement system, and delivered by mail within 15 days of the alleged violation to the current address of the registered owner of the vehicle on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles, with a certificate of mailing obtained as evidence of service, an exact and legible duplicate copy of the notice when filed with the magistrate constitutes a complaint to which the defendant may enter a plea. This bill would expand the information that must be included on a notice to appear. The bill would authorize the mailing of a specified courtesy notice or any other notice other than a notice to appear by the issuing agency, manufacturer, or supplier of the automated traffic enforcement system to the registered owner or the alleged violator prior to issuing a notice to appear. The bill would require that this notice contain specified information and, beginning January 1, 2013, be on a form approved by the Judicial Council, following consultation with the traffic and transportation committee of the California Peace Officers' Association. The bill would prohibit a manufacturer or supplier of an automated traffic enforcement system or the governmental agency operating the system from altering the notice to appear or any other form approved by the Judicial Council. If a form is found to have been materially altered, the bill would authorize that the citation, based on the altered form, be dismissed. The bill would also require that the citation be dismissed if a magistrate or judge makes a finding that there are grounds for dismissal, in certain circumstances. (3) Because it is unlawful and constitutes an infraction for any person to violate, or fail to comply with any provision of the Vehicle Code, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. (4) 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.

(1) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to examine applicants for specific driver's licenses and requires that the examination include, among other things, a test of the applicant's knowledge and understanding of the provisions of the Vehicle Code governing the operation of vehicles upon the highways. This bill would require the department to include a test of the applicant's understanding of the distractions and dangers of handheld cell phone use and text messaging while operating a motor vehicle. (2) Existing law establishes that specified convictions and violations under the Vehicle Code and traffic-related incidents count as points against a driver's record for purposes of the suspension or revocation of the privilege to drive. Under existing law, it is an infraction for any person to drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone, unless that telephone is designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking operation, and is used in that manner while driving, except as otherwise provided. A person under 18 years of age is prohibited from driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone, even if equipped with a hands-free device, or while using a mobile service device. A point is not given for a violation of these provisions. This bill would assess a violation point on a 2nd or subsequent violation of these provisions. (3) Under existing law, a person is prohibited from driving a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication, except as specified. This bill would require that this provision does not apply if the electronic wireless communications device is specifically designed and configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation to write, send, or read a text-based communication, and it is used in that manner while driving. The bill also would increase the base fines for a violation of any of the above-described prohibitions involving driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone or electronic wireless communications device from $20 to $50 and the fine for a 2nd or subsequent offense from $50 to $100, would apply similar prohibitions to a person riding a bicycle, would impose a total fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense for a violation when the offense is committed while riding a bicycle, and would provide that a violation point is not given for a conviction of a violation while riding a bicycle. By expanding the scope of existing crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law prohibits a law enforcement officer from stopping a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver is violating the prohibition of driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone. This bill would delete that prohibition. (5) Existing law requires that the base fines collected from violations of the Vehicle Code for crimes other than parking offenses are subject to distribution to specified funds of a state or local agency as set forth by statute or to the proper funds of a city or county, as applicable. This bill would require the county treasurer to submit $10 from each fine collected under this provision for violating the above-described prohibitions involving driving a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone or electronic wireless communications device to the Controller, for deposit into the Distracted Driver Education Fund, which would be created in the State Treasury for an education program on the dangers of cell phone use and text messaging while driving, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by imposing a new duty on local officials. The bill would require the Legislature, upon appropriation in the Budget Bill, to allocate this money to the Office of Traffic Safety in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency for this purpose. The bill would authorize the county treasurer to also withhold a sufficient amount from each fine collected for violations involving riding a bicycle while using a wireless telephone or electronic wireless communications device to reimburse the courts in the county for their actual, reasonable, and necessary costs associated with processing violations under the law involving those prohibitions. (6) This bill would incorporate changes to Section 12804.9 of the Vehicle Code proposed by both this bill and AB 82, which would become operative only if both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, but AB 82 becomes operative first, and this bill is enacted after AB 82. (7) 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.

(1) The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act (act) establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and requires the commission to prepare a biennial integrated energy policy report containing specified information related to major energy trends and issues facing the state, as well as a biennial energy policy review. The act requires the commission to certify sufficient sites and related facilities that are required to provide a supply of electricity sufficient to accommodate projected demand for power statewide. This bill would enact the Liquefied Natural Gas Market Assessment Act and would require the Energy Commission, as a component of the integrated energy policy report, to conduct a study of the need for liquefied natural gas imports to meet the state's energy demand. The bill would also require the Energy Commission, prior to a lease or permit being issued by the State Lands Commission or the California Coastal Commission to license a liquefied natural gas facility on the California coast, to update its study of the need for liquefied natural gas imports at least 60 days prior to a hearing by the State Lands Commission or the California Coastal Commission if the Energy Commission has not issued an integrated energy policy report within 180 days of the hearing. The bill would also require a liquefied natural gas terminal project applicant to include in the application evidence that it has consulted with the United States Department of Defense and its impacted service components. For a project involving the construction or operation of a liquefied natural gas terminal for which an application submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) or the United States Maritime Administration has not been deemed data adequate on or before January 1, 2012, and the application is being processed for further action by the FERC or the United States Maritime Administration, an environmental impact report prepared for that project by a lead agency would be required to contain specified information. By requiring a local agency to prepare an environmental impact report that contains specified information, the bill would increase the level of service provided by a local agency, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before July 1, 2012, to create a matrix on its Internet Web site containing information related to the construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas terminal project, and would require the matrix to be updated quarterly. The bill would also require the commission to impose a fee upon a liquefied natural gas terminal project applicant proposing a liquefied natural gas terminal that would be subject to the bill's provisions and would authorize the commission to expend the fees, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement those provisions. (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.

(1) Under existing law, various measures provide funding for water resources projects, facilities, and programs. This bill would enact the California Water Resources Investment Act of 2011 to finance a water resources investment program. To finance the program, the bill would impose on each retail water supplier in the state an annual charge based on the volume of water provided in its service area that is provided for nonagricultural uses and an annual charge based on each acre of land within its service area that is irrigated for agricultural purposes. The bill would require the State Board of Equalization to collect the charges from retail water suppliers in accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law, and would authorize the State Board of Equalization and the Department of Water Resources to adopt and enforce regulations for the administration and enforcement of the charges and related requirements as emergency regulations. The bill would require the revenues of the charges collected for purposes of the water resources investment program to be deposited in the California Water Resources Investment Fund, which would be established by the bill. The bill would establish a State Investment Account and an unspecified number of regional investment accounts within the fund, and would require 50% of the moneys deposited in the fund to be transferred to the State Investment Account and 50% of the moneys deposited in the fund to be transferred to the regional investment accounts based on the amount of charges collected within each unspecified funding region established by the bill. The bill would require the moneys in each of the regional investment accounts to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of providing funding for public benefits of water-related projects and programs, consistent with prescribed requirements. The bill would require the moneys in the State Investment Account to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for administration of the water resources investment program and to fund public benefits of specified water-related projects and programs, including statewide water resources projects, the operating expenses of the Delta Stewardship Council and the Delta Plan adopted by the council, projects that reduce the impacts of mercury contamination in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, specified scientific studies and assessments, debt service on general obligation bonds for projects and programs that provide statewide and interregional public benefits, and other unspecified purposes. (2) By expanding the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (3) This bill would constitute a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and this would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.

This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.

The State Teachers' Retirement System, the Public Employees' Retirement System, the Judges' Retirement System, and the Judges Retirement System II provide pension benefits based in part upon credited service. Under existing law, counties and districts, as defined, may provide retirement benefits to their employees pursuant to the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to convene a conference committee to craft responsible, comprehensive legislation to reform state and local pension systems in a manner that reflects both the legitimate needs of public employees and the fiscal circumstances of state and local governments.

The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes individual taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds or accounts, including, among others, the State Children's Trust Fund for the Prevention of Child Abuse and the Rare and Endangered Species Preservation Program. That law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2013, or earlier if specified minimum contributions are not received. This bill would change the January 1, 2013, repeal dates to January 1, 2018.

The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires a distributor to pay a redemption payment for each beverage container sold or offered for sale to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. The act requires the Division of Recycling in the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, subject to the availability of funds, to expend specified moneys set aside in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, for specified purposes relating to the recycling of beverage containers. This bill would, notwithstanding the above expenditure requirement, prohibit the department, on and after July 1, 2012, from making any payments, grants, or loans, as provided, to a city, county, or city and county, if the city, county, or city and county has adopted or is enforcing a land use restriction that prevents the siting or operation of a certified recycling center at a supermarket site, as defined, as may be required pursuant to a specified law.

(1) The California Pollution Control Financing Authority Act establishes the Capital Access Loan Program for small businesses, administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, which provides loans through participating financial institutions to qualifying small businesses. The authority is required to create a loss reserve account for each financial institution. The act authorizes the authority to enact regulations for the distribution of specified funds paid to the authority. This bill would authorize the authority to establish loss reserve accounts for the purposes of financing terminal rental adjustment clause leasing, if funds are available for contribution into the loss reserve account from any source other than the authority. The bill would prohibit, for purposes of the loss reserve accounts for terminal rental adjustment clause leasing, the use of funds provided by the federal government for the purposes of providing a loan loss reserve program. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.