Sen. Anthony Cannella

Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. This bill would express findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to the role of the University of California with respect to access to health care in the San Joaquin Valley. The bill would appropriate $1,855,000 from the General Fund to the regents each fiscal year, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, for allocation to the University of California to support expansion of the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education, as specified.

(1) Existing law regulates horse racing in this state and provides for the payment and distribution of license fees in connection with horse racing meetings. Existing law establishes the Fair and Exposition Fund to, among other things, allocate moneys for the support of the network of California fairs. Existing law requires certain license fees from satellite wagering to be deposited into a separate account in the Fair and Exposition Fund, and continuously appropriates those moneys for specified purposes, including, among others, the payment of expenses incurred in establishing and operating satellite wagering facilities at fairs. This bill would delete the provisions requiring satellite wagering license fees to be deposited into a separate account in the Fair and Exposition Fund and to be continuously appropriated for specified purposes. The bill would instead require certain revenues paid by racing associations and fairs generated by parimutuel wagering to be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund and would require those funds to be continuously appropriated for various purposes, including, among others, capital improvements at fairgrounds. The bill would revise requirements for concurrence by the Joint Committee on Fairs, Allocation, and Classification of certain allocations proposed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. The bill would also require all funds appropriated for California fairs and expositions to be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund and would continuously appropriate those funds for various purposes. By continuously appropriating the funds in the Fair and Exposition Fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law provides that the Department of Food and Agriculture is responsible for providing oversight of activities carried out by each California fair, including, but not limited to, conducting fiscal and performance audits of county fairs and citrus fruit fairs that are either requested by the fair or that the department deems necessary, and conducting, or causing to be conducted, annual fiscal audits and periodic compliance audits. This bill would delete the requirement that the department conduct the audits described above and would instead require the department to provide that the books and accounts for the prior calendar year of all fairs receiving money from the Fair and Exposition Fund be examined and reviewed annually and audited once every 3 years by an independent certified public accountant or certified public accountancy firm. The bill would require a summary of the examination to be appended to the fair's annual statement of operations, and would provide that the costs of the annual review or audit be the responsibility of each fair. (3) Existing law requires the Legislature, from the total revenue received from the Department of Food and Agriculture, to annually appropriate moneys to the department as it deems necessary for the oversight of the network of California fairs and to perform audits. Existing law continuously appropriates any of those funds that are unallocated to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture for specified purposes. This bill would delete those provisions and instead would appropriate any unallocated balance in the Fair and Exposition Fund without regard to fiscal years for allocation by the secretary for capital outlay to California fairs for specified purposes. The bill would also specify that a reasonable amount of those funds, as determined by the secretary, may be used during any year by the Division of Fairs and Expositions to provide oversight and administration of the network of fairs. (4) Existing law divides the state into agricultural districts and provides for the management of these districts by district agricultural associations. Existing law provides for a board of directors for each district agricultural association, and provides for the appointment of each director by the Governor. This bill would authorize the Governor to remove a director for cause within one year of the director's appointment. (5) Existing law specifies the duties and responsibilities of district agricultural associations, and requires a district agricultural association to obtain the approval of the Department of Food and Agriculture prior to exercising certain powers, including, among others, the power to sue. Existing law also requires a district agricultural association to obtain the approval of both the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services in order to exercise certain other powers, including the power to conduct activities upon the district agricultural association's property, contract, purchase, or convey an interest in either real or personal property, or to use or manage its real estate or personal property. This bill would revise the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services with respect to district agricultural associations, and, among other things, would delete the requirement that a district agricultural association obtain the Department of Food and Agriculture's approval prior to suing. The bill would also delete the requirement that a district agricultural association obtain prior approval from both the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services prior to conducting activities upon the district agricultural association's own property, or entering into a contract or exercising powers over its own real or personal property. The bill would require a district agricultural association to comply with specified contracting procedures, including, among others, soliciting bids in writing if the estimated total cost of a project exceeds $25,000. The bill would require a district agricultural association to adopt a fiscal review policy to conduct audits at regular intervals, as specified, and would authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture to require an audit to be conducted at an earlier time if the department deems it necessary to protect the interests of the district agricultural association. The bill would specify that the title, control, and possession of all personal property acquired, held, managed, or operated by a district agricultural association vests with the district agricultural association. The bill would delete a provision requiring the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to expend up to $100,000 each fiscal year for an exhibit or exhibits at a fair that demonstrates the process of production and use of food and fiber, and would also delete a requirement that the secretary provide for a conference of fair judges to aid the Department of Food and Agriculture in prescribing regulations, and to expend up to $15,000 for that purpose. The bill would make other conforming and related changes. (6) Under existing law, the Department of General Services exercises oversight of the acquisition and replacement of motor vehicles, and the acquisition of certain mobile equipment, by state agencies, and defines "state agency" for those purposes. This bill would exclude a district agricultural association from that definition. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would call on the President of the United States to use his executive authority to find innovative ways to provide more water for agriculture in California.

The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would allow as a deduction incomputing adjusted gross income for those amounts contributed to a Coverdell education savings account, up to $750 per taxable year, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law establishes various health research grant programs, including the Cancer Research Program, the Breast Cancer Research Program, and the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program. This bill, the California Blueprint for Research to Advance Innovations in Neuroscience (Cal-BRAIN) Act of 2014, would request the Regents of the University of California to establish the Cal-BRAIN program to leverage California's research assets and the federal BRAIN Initiative's funding opportunities to accelerate the development of brain mapping techniques, including the development of new technologies, in order to achieve certain goals. The bill would additionally request the University of California to convene certain stakeholders to develop a governing structure for the Cal-BRAIN program designed to do specified tasks, and to provide information about the program through an Internet Web site. These provisions would only be implemented to the extent that adequate funding is appropriated to the University of California, as specified.

Existing law authorizes various conservancies to acquire, manage, direct the management of, and conserve public lands in the state. This bill would establish the San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Conservancy, to undertake various activities related to the San Joaquin Valley, as defined, and would prescribe the management, powers, and duties of the conservancy. The bill would create the San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Conservancy Fund in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation, for the purposes of the conservancy.

Existing law creates the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $11,140,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a safe drinking water and water supply reliability program. The bond act, among other things, makes specified amounts available for projects relating to drought relief, water supply reliability, ecosystem and watershed protection and restoration, and emergency and urgent actions that ensure safe drinking water supplies are available in disadvantaged communities and economically distressed areas. Existing law provides for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election. This bill would rename the bond act as the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2014 and make conforming changes. The bill would instead authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $9,217,000,000 by reducing the amount available for projects related to drought relief and water supply reliability, as specified. The bill would remove the authorization for funds to be available for ecosystem and watershed protection and restoration projects, and would increase the amount of funds available for emergency and urgent actions to ensure safe drinking water supplies in disadvantaged communities and economically distressed areas. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Planning and Zoning Law prohibits the legislative body of a city or county within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley, after specified general plan amendments have been made, and corresponding zoning ordinances adopted, from taking specified actions regarding property located within a flood hazard zone unless the city or county makes specified findings including, among other requirements, that the local flood management agency has made adequate progress on the construction of a flood protection system that will result in a specified level of flood protection in urban or urbanizing areas or the national Federal Emergency Management Agency standard of flood protection in nonurbanized areas, as specified. That law defines adequate progress as meaning that, among other conditions being met, the total project scope, schedule, and cost of the completed flood protection system have been developed to meet the appropriate standard of protection and critical features of the flood protection system are under construction. This bill would revise the definition of adequate progress to include the critical features of the flood protection system being planned and designed or under construction and the completion of a levee safety plan for those flood protection systems that are a part of the State Plan of Flood Control. This bill would also require a local flood management agency's annual report to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board on the efforts in working toward completion of the flood protection system to describe the agency's compliance with specified conditions. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would create 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.

This measure would designate Monday, May 5, 2014, 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.