This measure would proclaim the year of 2014 as the "Year of the Community," and would declare that the Legislature will actively promote the rights of persons with developmental disabilities and their full inclusion into community life.
Sponsored bills
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to provide at least $35 million to the states in order for the states to process evidence from sexual assault forensic exams.
This measure would proclaim the week of May 18, 2014, through May 24, 2014, as Emergency Medical Services Week.
This measure would proclaim May 15, 2014, as Senior Fraud Awareness Day.
The California Constitution limits the maximum amount of any ad valorem tax on real property to 1% of the full cash value of the property except for ad valorem taxes or special assessments that pay the interest and redemption charges on certain bonded indebtedness, including bonded indebtedness incurred by a school district, community college district, or county office of education for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities, approved by 55% of the voters if the proposition includes specified accountability requirements. This bill would prohibit proceeds from the sale of bonds authorized and issued pursuant to the exception described above to be used to purchase portable electronic devices, including, but not limited to, laptop computers and tablet computers, that are not closely connected to classroom instruction, are assigned to individual pupils, or are permitted to leave the schoolsite for more than one schoolday, or to purchase basic or supplemental instructional materials.
This measure would designate the month of April 2014 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and would recognize April 23, 2014, as Denim Day California.
Under existing law, certain specified felonies are punished by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years or, where the term is specified, for the term described in the underlying offense. Notwithstanding these provisions, existing law requires that a sentence be served in state prison where the defendant has a prior or current conviction for a serious or violent felony, has a prior felony conviction in another jurisdiction that has all of the elements of a serious or violent felony, is required to register as a sex offender, or has an aggravated white collar crime enhancement imposed as part of the sentence. This bill would additionally require a defendant to serve his or her sentence in state prison if he or she is convicted of a crime or crimes for which he or she is sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 10 years or more. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution require the Governor to submit to the Legislature a budget for the ensuing fiscal year within the first 10 days of each calendar year and prohibit the Legislature from sending to the Governor for consideration a Budget Bill that would appropriate from the General Fund a total amount that exceeds General Fund revenues for that fiscal year estimated as of the date of the Budget Bill's passage. This measure would require the Director of Finance to submit estimates of General Fund revenues and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year and the 3 fiscal years thereafter within 10 days following the submission of a budget by the Governor, following the submission of proposed adjustments to the Governor's Budget, as required by statute, and following the enactment of the Budget Bill. Existing provisions of the California Constitution require the Legislature to establish a prudent state reserve fund in an amount the Legislature deems reasonable and necessary. Existing provisions of the California Constitution, approved by the electors on March 2, 2004, additionally establish the Budget Stabilization Account in the General Fund and require the Controller, commencing no later than September 30, 2006, and for each fiscal year thereafter, to transfer from the General Fund to the account a specified percentage of estimated General Fund revenues. Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution (Proposition 98) sets forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of General Fund revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts, as defined, and community college districts for each fiscal year. This measure would establish a replacement version of the Budget Stabilization Account, and would require the Controller, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, to transfer from the General Fund to the account 1.5% of the estimated amount of General Fund revenues for that fiscal year. Commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, this measure would also require the Controller to annually transfer from the General Fund to the account amounts determined pursuant to specified formulae, consisting of General Fund proceeds of taxes derived from personal income taxes paid on net capital gains that exceed a designated level, based on estimates provided in the Budget Act. This measure, for the 2015–16 fiscal year through the 2029–30 fiscal year, would require the Legislature to appropriate 50% of these total amounts for one or more designated fiscal obligations of the state, including accrued school funding obligations, repayment of budgetary loans, payment of accrued claims for mandate costs, and payment of unfunded pension liabilities and prefunding of other postemployment benefits. For the 2030–31 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, this measure would instead authorize the Legislature to appropriate up to 50% of these total amounts for one or more of these designated fiscal obligations of the state. This measure would require the Department of Finance, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, to annually report to the Legislature certain fiscal information necessary to calculate the amount of the transfer from the General Fund to the Budget Stabilization Account for that fiscal year, and would require certain of these estimates to be included in the annual Budget Act. Commencing with the 2017–18 fiscal year, the measure would require the department to provide updated estimates for each of the 2 preceding fiscal years, calculated separately, for the purpose of determining the maximum allowable transfer from the General Fund to the Budget Stabilization Account for each of these fiscal years. This measure would prohibit the balance in the Budget Stabilization Account from exceeding 10% of estimated General Fund proceeds of taxes. It also would limit the use of funds, that otherwise would be transferred to the account, to appropriation for the funding of infrastructure, as defined in a specified statute, including deferred maintenance. This measure would establish the Public School System Stabilization Account, to provide a reserve for public school funding. Commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year and pursuant to specified calculations, the Controller would transfer certain moneys from the General Fund into the Public School System Stabilization Account, for subsequent allocation to school districts and community college districts in fiscal years for which the minimum state funding obligation under Proposition 98 falls below specified levels. The measure would prohibit the transfer of moneys into the Public School System Stabilization Account for a fiscal year for which a maintenance factor is created under Proposition 98 or before a previously determined maintenance factor has been fully reimbursed. The measure would also prohibit the transfer of funds into the account in a fiscal year in which provisions of Proposition 98 have been suspended. The funds transferred into the Public School System Stabilization Account under the measure in a fiscal year would be counted toward the state's annual funding obligation for that fiscal year under Proposition 98, rather than in a fiscal year in which those funds are allocated. The measure would authorize the Controller to utilize funds in the account, that he or she determines to be unnecessary to meet foreseeable obligations, to help manage General Fund daily cash flow needs if that use does not interfere with the purpose of the account. Existing provisions of the California Constitution authorize the Governor to issue a proclamation declaring an emergency in specified circumstances. This measure would authorize the Legislature, upon the Governor's proclamation declaring a budget emergency, as described, to enact a statute that returns funds from the Budget Stabilization Account to the General Fund for appropriation to address the budget emergency, appropriates funds in the Public School System Stabilization Account for the support of school districts and community college districts, or suspends or reduces the transfer of funds from the General Fund to the Budget Stabilization Account or the Public School System Stabilization Account. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to submit ACA 4 of the 2009–10 Regular Session, a proposed legislative constitutional amendment relating to state finance, to the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election. This bill would direct the Secretary of State to withdraw ACA 4 from the ballot.
Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority with specified powers and duties relating to the development and implementation of an intercity high-speed rail system. Existing law, pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, authorizes $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail development and other related purposes. The federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and other federal acts provide funding for allocation nationally to high-speed rail projects. The Budget Act of 2012 appropriates federal funds, and state funds in the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund, to the authority for various purposes related to the high-speed rail project, including right-of-way acquisition and construction. This bill would prohibit the authority from expending the federal funds appropriated to the authority pursuant to the Budget Act of 2012 unless state funds appropriated from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund or from another state funding source are immediately available to the authority for the purpose of providing matching state funds for the federal funds. This requirement would apply regardless of whether the federal government has authorized the expenditure of the federal funds without the immediate availability of the nonfederal match that is a condition for the award of the federal funds. The bill would also make legislative findings and declarations.
This measure would proclaim the Legislature's support for the extension of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and would memorialize the United States Congress to promptly renew the extension of unemployment benefits.