Under existing law, price, fitness, and quality being equal, any body, officer, or other person charged with the purchase, or permitted or authorized to purchase supplies for the use of the state, or of any of its institutions or offices, or for the use of any county or city, is required to always prefer supplies that are manufactured or produced in the state, and is required to next prefer supplies partially manufactured or produced in the state. Existing law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except public universities and colleges and school districts, to purchase an agricultural product grown in California when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the California-grown agricultural product is comparable. Existing law also requires the institutions, when they solicit or intend to accept a bid or price for agricultural products grown outside the state, to accept the bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products in the state before accepting a bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products outside of the state when specified conditions are met, including that the bid or price of the agricultural product grown outside the state and packed or processed in the state does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for the agricultural product packed or processed outside the state. Existing law requires a school district that solicits bids for the purchase of an agricultural product to accept a bid or price for that agricultural product when it is grown in California before accepting a bid or price for an agricultural product that is grown outside the state when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the California-grown agricultural product is comparable. Under existing law, these provisions only apply to a contract to purchase agricultural products for a value that is less than the value of the threshold for supplies and services for which California has obligated itself under the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization. This bill would instead require all California state-owned or state-run institutions, including public universities and colleges and school districts, that purchase agricultural products to only purchase an agricultural product grown in California unless the agricultural product is not available from an in-state source or is not grown in the state. The bill would eliminate the above-described preference for in-state vendors. The bill would eliminate the provision that limits the application of these preferences to contracts to purchase agricultural products for a value that is less than the value of the above-described threshold. The bill would exempt agricultural products provided to a California state-owned or state-run institution by the United States Department of Agriculture through the Foods in Schools program from these preferences. The bill would define "agricultural product" for purposes of these provisions as fruits, tree nuts, peanuts, vegetables, melons, potatoes, meat from livestock, eggs, or dairy products. The bill would require the California State Auditor to investigate violations of these provisions. By creating new duties for school districts and community college districts, 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, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law prohibits any person from collecting blood from animals, or preparing, testing, processing, storing, or distributing blood or blood component products, as defined, from animals, for retail sale and distribution except in a commercial blood bank for animals that is licensed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. Existing law requires a commercial blood bank for animals, as a condition of licensing, to document how the animal donor was acquired and to have a written protocol for, among other things, ongoing veterinary care for animals held in blood donor facilities. Existing law authorizes the secretary to fix the license application fee and license renewal fee at less than, but not to exceed, $250 for each establishment. Existing law also authorizes the Department of Food and Agriculture to increase those fees to cover the department's reasonable costs incurred in connection with required inspections. Existing law exempts all records held by the department pursuant to these provisions from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. This bill would modify the definition of a commercial blood bank for animals to limit the definition to establishments that collect blood from "community-sourced" animals, as defined, that are brought by their owners to the commercial blood bank for animals to have their blood collected. The bill would exclude from the definition of a commercial blood blank for animals establishments that collect blood from "captive closed-colony" animals that are kept, housed, or maintained for the purpose of collecting their blood. By modifying the definition of a commercial blood bank for animals in this manner, the bill would prohibit the use of captive closed-colony animals at a commercial blood bank for animals. The bill would make the modification of the definition of a commercial blood bank for animals operative 3 years after the date that the department determines that an equivalent supply of blood sold in California from captive closed-colony blood banks for animals during the years 2018 to 2019, inclusive, is being produced over an equivalent time period from community-sourced blood banks for animals. The bill would define "indirect supervision" to have the same meaning as in specified regulations and would make certain related changes. The bill, for purposes of liability, would declare the production and use of whole blood, plasma, blood products, and blood derivatives for the purpose of injecting or transfusing the same, or any of them, into an animal to be construed to be, and would declare to be, the rendition of a service by each and every person, firm, or corporation participating, and would prohibit from being construed, and would be declared not to be, a sale of that whole blood or plasma or those blood products or blood derivatives. The bill would require a commercial blood bank for animals to include in its written protocol, which would be required to be consistent with current standards of care and practice for the field of veterinary transfusion medicine, bloodborne pathogen testing for all canine and feline blood donors, as specified. The bill would increase the license application and license renewal fees to $1,000 and would also authorize the fees to be increased by the secretary in an amount not to exceed the reasonable regulatory costs in administering these provisions. The bill would prohibit a commercial blood bank for animals from providing payment to a person who brings a community-sourced animal to the commercial blood bank for the purpose of donating that animal's blood or blood component products, would impose specified requirements on a commercial blood bank for animals that accepts a donation from a community-sourced animal, would require commercial blood banks for animals to annually submit a specified report to the department and, among other enforcement actions, would subject a commercial blood bank for animals to a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation of these provisions. The bill would delete the above-described exemption from the California Public Records Act, except for identifying personal information, as defined, of owners of animal donors, as provided. (2) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (3) Under existing law, a violation of certain provisions of the Food and Agricultural Code relating to animals is a crime. Because a violation of some of the above provisions would be 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. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that specified injuries sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. This bill would define "injury," for a hospital employee who provides direct patient care in an acute care hospital, to include infectious diseases, musculoskeletal injuries, and respiratory diseases, as defined. The bill would create rebuttable presumptions that these injuries that develop or manifest in a hospital employee who provides direct patient care in an acute care hospital arose out of and in the course of the employment. The bill would extend these presumptions for specified time periods after the hospital employee's termination of employment. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
(1) Existing law establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, known as "GO-Biz," within the Governor's office to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. Existing federal law establishes the Capital Magnet Fund and makes moneys in that fund available to the United States Secretary of the Treasury to carry out a competitive grant program to attract private capital for, and increase investment in, certain affordable housing and economic development projects by providing grants, as provided, to Treasury-certified community development financial institutions or nonprofit organizations that meet specified criteria. This bill would establish the Community Development Financial Institutions Grant Program, administered by GO-Biz, for the purpose of providing grants to qualified community development financial institutions. The bill would establish the Community Development Financial Institutions Grant Fund and, upon appropriation, require GO-Biz to award a grant to an eligible recipient, defined as a community development financial institution that meets specified criteria under the program, as provided. The bill would require, among other things, that an eligible recipient provide matching funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis with moneys received from private, nongovernmental sources. The bill would specify authorized uses of grant funds, including providing loans, grants, equity investments, or technical assistance within low-income communities or for purposes that have a direct and substantial benefit to lower income households. (2) Previously existing law, until January 1, 2017, allowed a credit under the Personal Income Tax Law, the Corporation Tax Law, and a credit against the tax imposed on an insurer in an amount equal to 20% of a qualified investment, as defined, made in a community development financial institution, as defined, but not to exceed, in the aggregate amount under all those laws, $50,000,000 per year. Previously existing law authorized the certification of investments for the credit until January 1, 2017. Previously existing law required that certification applications for which the intended use of the investments had the greatest aggregate benefit for low- to moderate-income or rural areas or households be given the highest priority. Credits that had been allowed were completely recaptured if the qualified investment was subsequently withdrawn and not similarly reinvested, and were partially recaptured if the qualified investment was subsequently reduced. This bill would establish similar credits under the Personal Income Tax Law, the Corporation Tax Law, and the law governing the taxation of insurers, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021. The bill would require that the credit amount be equal to the applicable credit percentage of a qualified investment, as defined, made in a community development financial institution, as defined, certified as provided by GO-Biz, but would provide that the applicable credit percentage for each taxable year is 0% unless otherwise specified in the Budget Act or other act making an appropriation for these purposes. The bill would require GO-Biz to certify investments and community development financial institutions for these purposes and to allocate credits in a manner similar to the above-described previously allowed credits. In this regard, the bill would also authorize GO-Biz to allocate tax credits for the current year and reserve tax credits for subsequent years. Existing law requires any bill introduced on or after January 1, 2020, that would authorize certain tax expenditures, as defined, to identify specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill would require a community development financial institution that receives a qualified investment for which a tax credit is allowed under the bill to submit a report to GO-Biz, as specified, on the use of that qualified investment. On or before January 1, 2025, the bill would require the Legislative Analyst to prepare an analysis, based on data provided by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the Franchise Tax Board, and GO-Biz on or before September 30, 2024, of the tax credit investments provided for in the bill. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst to submit a report to the Legislature by June 30, 2025, on the effects of these tax credits that includes this analysis.
The Public Utilities Act prohibits, with certain exemptions, any public utility from selling, leasing, assigning, mortgaging, or otherwise disposing of or encumbering specified property necessary or useful in the performance of the public utility's duties to the public without first, for qualified transactions valued above $5,000,000, securing an order from the Public Utilities Commission authorizing it to do so or, for qualified transactions valued at $5,000,000 or less, filing an advice letter and obtaining approval from the commission. Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, provides for the operation of public water systems and imposes on the State Water Resources Control Board related regulatory responsibilities and duties. Existing law authorizes the state board to order consolidation of public water systems where a public water system or state small water system serving a disadvantaged community consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water, as provided. This bill, the Consolidation for Safe Drinking Water Act of 2020, would authorize a water or sewer system corporation to file an application and obtain approval from the commission through an order authorizing the water or sewer system corporation to consolidate with a public water system or state small water system. The bill would require the commission to approve or deny the application within 8 months, except as provided. For a consolidation valued at $5,000,000 or less, the bill would authorize a water or sewer system corporation to instead file an advice letter and obtain approval from the commission through a resolution authorizing the water or sewer system corporation to consolidate with a public water system or state small water system. The bill would authorize the executive director of the commission or the director of the division of the commission having regulatory jurisdiction over the water or sewer system corporation to approve an uncontested advice letter, and would require the commission to approve or deny an advice letter within 120 days, except as provided.
The Personal Income Tax Law, beginning on or after January 1, 2015, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income tax credit against personal income tax, and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability, to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. The Personal Income Tax Law allows a refundable young child tax credit against the taxes imposed under that law, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, in an amount equal to $1,176 multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, not to exceed $1,000 per each qualified taxpayer per taxable year and requires amounts of this credit in excess of the qualified taxpayer's tax liability to be paid to the qualified taxpayer from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill, under the Personal Income Tax Law, would additionally allow a refundable child poverty tax credit against the taxes imposed under that law for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, in an amount equal to either (1) $2,940 multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor for qualified taxpayers, as defined, residing in a "Region 1" county on the last day of the taxable year, not to exceed $2,500 per each qualified taxpayer per taxable year, or (2) $2,353 multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor for qualified taxpayers, as defined, residing in a "Region 2" county on the last day of the taxable year, not to exceed $2,000 per each qualified taxpayer per taxable year, as specified. The bill would require amounts of this credit in excess of the qualified taxpayer's tax liability to be paid to the qualified taxpayer from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would specify that the credit is only operative for taxable years for which resources are authorized in the annual Budget Act for the Franchise Tax Board to oversee and audit returns associated with the earned income tax credit.
Existing law establishes the Department of Water Resources within the Natural Resources Agency and prescribes the jurisdiction and various general administrative authorities and duties of the department regarding, among other things, matters pertaining to water resources and dams in the state. This bill would require the department to convene a Water and Climate Science Advisory Board to consist of 5 members with certain qualifications appointed by the department, the agency, and the State Water Resources Control Board, as provided. The bill would require board members to serve 3-year terms. The bill would require the department to consult with the board when initiating, reviewing, or expanding policies or guidelines regarding impacts of climate change on water resources. The bill would require the department to establish an internal process for department review of and comment on the work of the board, which shall be made publicly available.