This measure would encourage any individual taxpayer in California who disapproves of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to donate their tax savings to the State of California's General Fund, as specified.
(1) Existing property tax law provides, pursuant to the authority of a specified provision of the California Constitution, for a homeowners' exemption in the amount of $7,000 of the full value of a "dwelling," as defined, and authorizes the Legislature to increase this exemption. This bill, beginning with the lien date for the 2019–20 fiscal year, would increase the homeowners' exemption from $7,000 to $14,000 of the full value of a dwelling. This bill, for the 2020–21 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, would also require the county assessor to adjust the amount of the homeowners' exemption by the percentage change in the House Price Index for California for the first 3 quarters of the prior calendar year, as specified. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes based upon taxable income of individuals, estates, and trusts, at specified rates. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, would revise the personal income tax rates and the amounts of income those rates are imposed upon, as provided. (3) The California Constitution requires the Legislature, whenever it increases the homeowners' property tax exemption, to provide a comparable increase in benefits to qualified renters. The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000 or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. This bill, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2019, would increase this credit for a qualified renter to $240 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less, as adjusted for inflation, and to an amount equal to $120 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000 or less, as adjusted for inflation. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, would also require the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation, based upon the California Consumer Price Index, the amount of these credits. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to the renters' credit. (4) The Corporation Tax Law generally imposes a franchise tax on corporations doing business within the limits of this state, including a minimum franchise tax on specified corporations, as provided. This bill would eliminate the minimum franchise tax and make related technical amendments. (5) Existing law requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. (6) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The California Constitution conditions the imposition of a general tax by a local government upon the approval of a majority of its voters voting on the tax. The California Constitution requires the election for the vote on a general tax to be consolidated with a regularly scheduled election for members of the governing body of the local government, except in cases where the members of the governing body of the local government, by a unanimous vote, declare an emergency. The California Constitution conditions the imposition of a special tax by a local government upon the approval of 23 of the voters voting on the tax. The California Constitution defines "local government" for these purposes to mean any county, city, city and county, including a charter city or county, any special district, or any other local or regional governmental entity. This measure would specify that the electorate exercising its initiative power is within the definition of "local government," and that these conditions and requirements apply to the exercise of that power. The California Constitution prohibits an assessment or property-related fee or charge from being assessed by an agency on any parcel of property unless it meets certain requirements. Existing provisions of the California Constitution require an agency to follow specified procedures in imposing or increasing an assessment or property-related fee or charge, and condition the imposition or increase of an assessment or property-related fee or charge, with certain exceptions, upon the absence of a majority protest on the part of owners of affected parcels and, in the case of a property-related fee or charge, upon approval by either a majority vote of the owners of the subject parcels or a 23 vote of the voters residing in the affected area. The California Constitution defines "agency" for these purposes to mean any county, city, city and county, including a charter city or county, any special district, or any other local or regional governmental entity. This measure would specify that the electorate exercising its initiative power is within the definition of "agency," and that the existing requirements and procedures apply to the exercise of that power.
Under existing law, it is a crime to assault, batter, or interfere with, as specified, a police dog or police horse. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor, or, if a serious physical injury is inflicted upon the animal, as a misdemeanor or a felony. Additionally, under existing law, if a person, with the intent to inflict injury or death, causes the death or serious physical injury of the animal, that person is, upon conviction of a felony, punishable by an additional one-year term of imprisonment. Under existing law, for each felony case, a court is required to hold, and a prosecutor is required to attend, a preliminary hearing. This bill would instead make the intentional killing or infliction of serious physical injury to a police dog or police horse a felony punishable by imprisonment for 2, 3, or 4 years. By changing the penalty of an existing crime, and by imposing additional duties on local prosecutors by increasing the number of preliminary hearings, 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.
Existing law requires a person convicted of certain sex-related offenses to register annually, as specified, with local law enforcement officials in the area in which he or she resides. Existing law makes information about registered sex offenders available to the public via an Internet Web site. Existing law prohibits the use of this information for purposes of housing or accommodation unless it is to protect a person at risk. Existing law requires certain disclosures to be made when transferring real property. Existing law prescribes the rights and duties of landlords and tenants. This bill would require a person who is required to register as a sex offender for a conviction involving a victim under 18 years of age, when seeking to purchase or rent a residential housing unit located within 14 mile from a school, park, or child care facility, as defined, to disclose to the seller or landlord the fact that he or she is a registered sex offender. This bill would authorize a seller to refuse to sell to a person based on that disclosure, or, if the disclosure is not made or is made after entry into a sales contract, to rescind the sales contract without penalty. The bill would also authorize a landlord to refuse to rent to a person based on that disclosure, or, if the disclosure is not made or is made after entry into a housing rental agreement, to cause the person to be evicted.
Existing law, with certain exceptions, requires that employers pay wages to their employees twice per calendar month on days designated in advance as regular paydays. A violation of that requirement is a crime. Existing law exempts the payment of wages of employees directly employed by the State of California from that requirement. This bill would repeal that exemption as of January 1, 2020, thereby subjecting the payment of wages of employees directly employed by the State of California to the twice-per-month requirement. By changing the definition of 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.
Existing law contains various assistance programs, including programs that provide for financial assistance. This bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, on or before ____ to provide a tax rebate in a qualified amount, as defined, to individuals who filed a return for the 2016 taxable year. The bill would appropriate $6,000,000,000 to the Franchise Tax Board for administrative costs related to this program and to provide the tax rebates, as provided. The Personal Income Tax Law imposes a tax on individual taxpayers measured by the taxpayer's taxable income for the taxable year, but excludes certain items of income from the computation of tax. This bill would exclude from gross income any tax rebate received by a taxpayer pursuant to the above provisions. This bill would make a legislative finding and declaration that the tax rebate program serves a public purpose and does not constitute a prohibited gift of public funds.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a list of reportable communicable and noncommunicable diseases and conditions and specify the timeliness requirements related to the reporting of each disease and condition. Existing law also supports research into the development of a vaccine to protect against coccidioidomycosis, also known as Valley Fever. This bill would require the department to collect data on coccidioidomycosis cases on or before April 1 each year, as specified. The bill would require the department, if it collects data on coccidioidomycosis cases and removes discrepant data from its internal data set, to timely report sufficient information about its removal of discrepant data to a local health officer in order that the local health officer may remove discrepant data from the county's data set. The bill would also require the department, if it publishes provisional data on coccidioidomycosis cases, to publish an explanation of data changes likely to occur and of discrepancies between data reported by a local health officer and data reported by the department. The bill would require the department to publish the date range of a data set and the date on which the data set was updated if the department publishes data on coccidioidomycosis cases.
