Existing law prohibits, except in specified circumstances, a state agency, political subdivision, municipal corporation, district, or public officer responsible for letting a public works contract from drafting bid specifications for that contract in a manner that limits the bidding to any one concern or product, unless the specification is followed by the words "or equal." Existing law requires that these bid specifications provide a period of time prior to or after, or prior to and after, the award of the contract to allow the contractor to submit data that demonstrates that a concern or product to be provided under the contract is equal to the concern or product identified in the bid specification. This bill would instead require these bid specifications to provide a period of time after the award of the contract for the submission of data substantiating a request for a substitution of "an equal" item, but would allow a solicitation for bids to require the submission of data substantiating a request for substitution of an equal item prior to the bid submission deadline only if the solicitation establishes a procedure for submission, evaluation, and determination, as provided. This bill would require the proponent of a proposed equal item submitted under that procedure to bear the burden of proof that the proposed item is equal to what is required by the bid specifications.
Sponsored bills
This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to immediately enact the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2011.
(1) Existing law provides that qualified patients, persons with valid identification cards, and the designated primary caregivers of qualified patients and persons with identification cards who associate within the State of California in order to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes, collectively or cooperatively, shall not, solely on that basis, be subject to state criminal sanctions for the possession, sale, transport, or other proscribed acts relating to marijuana. This bill instead authorizes qualified patients, persons with valid identification cards, and the designated primary caregivers of qualified patients and persons with identification cards, to associate within the State of California as collectives, cooperatives, and other business entities to cultivate, acquire, process, possess, transport, test, sell, and distribute marijuana for medical purposes. The bill would provide that these persons shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or specified sanctions for possessing, selling, transporting, or engaging in other proscribed acts relating to marijuana, unless they are not in compliance with the registration requirements described in this bill. (2) Existing law makes it a misdemeanor offense to, among other things, fraudulently use or obtain a medical marijuana identification card. This bill also would make it a misdemeanor offense to knowingly produce, issue, utilize, or sell a falsified, forged, or fraudulent physician's recommendation for medical marijuana. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, an initiative measure, prohibits prosecution for the possession or cultivation of marijuana of a patient or a patient's primary caregiver who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician. Existing law, the Medical Marijuana Program Act, exempts qualified patients who hold an identification card issued pursuant to the program, and the caregivers of those persons, from certain state criminal sanctions related to the possession, cultivation, transportation, processing, or use of limited amounts of marijuana, as specified. This bill would establish the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Control Act for the purposes of regulating and controlling medical marijuana activities. The bill would establish the Board of Medical Marijuana Enforcement in the Department of Consumer Affairs, and require the board to perform specified duties relating to the regulation of medical marijuana facilities, as defined. The governing body of the board would consist of 9 members, appointed by the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the Assembly. The duties of the board would include, but not be limited to, issuing or denying registration applications, establishing fees for administering these provisions, adopting regulations in connection with these provisions, and issuing fines and penalties for the violation of these provisions. The bill would preempt local laws regarding the regulation and control of medical marijuana and would prohibit a medical marijuana facility, as defined, from operating without state-approved registration, except as specified. The bill would generally require a city or county to permit no fewer than one medical marijuana dispensary, as defined, per 50,000 residents, provided that a city or county would be permitted to opt out of this requirement, pursuant to certain procedures. The bill would exempt from the bill's provisions individual patients and caregivers cultivating marijuana at their residences who do not sell or charge for the cultivation. The bill would require the board to make available mandatory registration application forms no later than July 1, 2013, and to make a thorough investigation to determine whether the applicant meets specified criteria. The bill would require that all registration applications be approved unless the applicant fails to meet the criteria. The bill would require a registration application to be approved or denied no later than 180 days after the application is filed with the board, and, if the board fails to act within this time, would require that the application be deemed approved. The bill would require a person applying for the renewal of an existing registration to apply no less than 60 days prior to the expiration, and would require the board to act upon a timely filed registration renewal application no later than 10 days prior to the expiration of the registration. This bill would create the Medical Marijuana Fund and would require that all moneys collected pursuant to the act be deposited into the Medical Marijuana Fund and would, except for moneys derived from penalties, continuously appropriate moneys in the fund for the purposes of implementing, enforcing, and administering the program. (4) Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of a county and the governing body of a city to levy, increase, or extend a transactions and use tax at a rate of 0.25%, or a multiple thereof, at a combined rate not to exceed 2% if approved by the required vote of the board or governing body and the required vote of qualified voters. This bill would additionally authorize the board of supervisors of a county and the governing body of a city to levy, increase, or extend a transactions and use tax on the retail sale of or storage, use, or other consumption of, medical marijuana or medical marijuana-infused products for general and specified purposes, as provided, at a combined rate not to exceed 5%. 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 bill would make appropriations for support of state government for the 2012–13 fiscal year. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a Budget Bill.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly, as defined, by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law requires the admission agreement for a residential care facility for the elderly to contain specified elements. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would prohibit a residential care facility for the elderly from assessing personal care fees upon notice of the death of a resident, and would prohibit the facility from assessing fees for the residential living unit of a deceased resident once all personal property of the deceased is removed. This bill would require an admission agreement to include a clear explanation of this prohibition. This bill would limit the liability for the payment of these fees that are not prohibited to prescribed individuals and entities. This bill would also require for a recipient receiving SSI/SSP, that a residential care facility for the elderly meet the requirements for the SSI/SSP program in assessing these fees, as prescribed by law. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would result in 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.
This measure would designate Monday, May 7, 2012, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day, urge all Californians to use that day to honor California peace officers, and recognize specified California peace officers who were killed in defense of their communities.
Existing law, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, provides that a patient or a patient's primary caregiver who possesses or cultivates marijuana for personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician is not subject to conviction for offenses relating to possession and cultivation of marijuana. Existing law also makes it a crime to possess for sale, plant, cultivate, harvest, dry process, transport, import into this state, sell, furnish, administer, or give away, to offer to transport, import into this state, sell, furnish, administer, or give away, or to attempt to import into this state or transport, any marijuana. Existing law makes it a felony or misdemeanor to open or maintain any place for the purpose of unlawfully selling, giving away, or using, or to knowingly rent, lease, or make available for use a building, room, space, or enclosure for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, or distributing any controlled substance for sale or distribution. Existing law further provides that every building or place used for the purpose of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping, manufacturing, or giving away any controlled substance, and every building or place wherein or upon which those acts take place, is a nuisance which shall be enjoined, abated, and prevented, and for which damages may be recovered. Existing law requires the Attorney General to develop and adopt appropriate guidelines to ensure the security and nondiversion of marijuana grown for medical use by patients qualified under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, and the Attorney General has published guidelines regarding collectives and cooperatives organized and operated to cultivate and distribute marijuana for medical purposes. This bill would exempt from the criminal acts and abatement of nuisance provisions described above collectives and cooperatives, as defined. The bill would also exempt those entities and persons from criminal prosecution or punishment solely on the basis of the fact that they receive compensation for actual expenses incurred in carrying out activities that are in compliance with those guidelines.
Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the Housing Opportunity and Market Stabilization (HOMeS) Trust Fund Act of 2012. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that revenues from this fee be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and Community Development for deposit in the Housing Opportunity and Market Stabilization (HOMeS) Trust Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund may be expended for supporting affordable housing, administering housing programs, and the cost of periodic audits, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements. 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. 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 provides that the unlawful possession of certain controlled substances, including, among others, cocaine, heroin, and those classified in Schedule III, IV, or V as a narcotic drug, is a felony punishable in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. The unlawful possession of the depressants mecloqualone, methaqualone, and gamma hydroxybutyric acid is punishable as a misdemeanor by imprisonment for not more than one year in a county jail or as a felony by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. The unlawful possession of certain other controlled substances, including, among others, concentrated cannabis, and those classified in Schedule III, IV, or V as nonnarcotic drugs, is punishable as a misdemeanor by imprisonment for not more than one year in a county jail, a fine, or by both imprisonment and fine, or as a felony by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. This bill would make the unlawful possession of any of those substances a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year. (2) Existing law requires a person who is convicted of specified controlled substance offenses to register with the law enforcement agency of a city, county, or city and county within 30 days of becoming a resident of that city, county, or city and county. This bill would exclude certain misdemeanor offenses from the offenses that require a person to register, including, among others, a misdemeanor conviction for unlawful possession of concentrated cannabis. (3) Existing law requires each person who is convicted of specified controlled substances offenses to pay a drug program fee in an amount not to exceed $150. This bill would, for persons convicted of specified misdemeanor offenses involving the possession of controlled substances, raise the fee to $500 for a first offense and to $1,500 for a second or subsequent offense. The bill would raise the fee to $250 for a first offense and to $500 for a second or subsequent offense if the person is granted probation and accepts the terms of probation. (4) Existing law requires a person convicted of a nonviolent drug possession offense to be granted probation. This bill would, if a defendant who has been offered probation, pursuant to the above law or any other law providing probation for a nonviolent drug possession offense, rejects probation, authorize the correctional administrator of a jail to require the defendant to serve the balance of his or her sentence on continuous electronic monitoring if the correctional administrator has made a determination that conditions in the jail necessitate releasing sentenced misdemeanor inmates. The bill would authorize the correctional administrator to condition the release on any reasonable conditions related to the underlying offense, and to impose sanctions for a violation of the conditions of release, as provided.