Sen. Dave Cogdill

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity to federal income tax laws, allow a charitable contribution deduction in computing tax liability. This bill would, for a cash contribution made after January 11, 2010, and before March 1, 2010, for the relief of victims in areas affected by the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, authorize taxpayers to treat that contribution as if it were made on December 31, 2009, and not in 2010. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA provides for the judicial review of a lead agency's decision to certify an EIR. The bill would enact the CEQA Litigation Protection Pilot Program of 2010 and would require the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency to select projects that meet specified requirements from specified regions for each calendar years between 2010 and 2014. The bill would exempt from judicial review, pursuant to CEQA, a lead agency's decision to certify the EIR of, or to adopt a mitigated negative declaration based on an initial study for, the selected projects, a lead agency's and responsible agency's approval of the selected project, and the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency's selection of the projects. The bill would require the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, by December 31 of each year, to submit an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature summarizing the designation of projects, and the job creation and investment attributable to the designated projects. The bill would repeal the pilot program as of January 1, 2016. (2) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on January 8, 2010. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 8, 2010, pursuant to the California Constitution. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The State Assistance for Fire Equipment Act authorizes the Secretary of Emergency Management to acquire specified firefighting apparatus and equipment for resale to a local agency, as defined, that provides fire suppression services or a fire company. Existing law also establishes the State Assistance for Fire Equipment Account, a continuously appropriated fund, for purposes of the act. Existing law requires the secretary to consult with a specified committee before adopting regulations implementing the act. This bill would annually appropriate $45,600,000 of revenue received by the state from the accessing of oil and gas reserves located beneath state coastal waters, generally known as the "T-Ridge Project," for firefighting purposes, including, but not limited to, the purchase of firefighting and rescue vehicles and equipment, vegetation management and defensible space projects, and specified training courses and materials, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would also require the secretary to consult with additional specified individuals involved in firefighting before adopting certain regulations. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on January 8, 2010. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 8, 2010, pursuant to the California Constitution.

Existing property tax law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenues to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally requires that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that jurisdiction's portion of the annual tax increment, as defined. Existing property tax law also reduces the amounts of ad valorem property tax revenue that would otherwise be annually allocated to the county, cities, and special districts pursuant to these general allocation requirements by requiring, for purposes of determining property tax revenue allocations in each county for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 fiscal years, that the amounts of property tax revenue deemed allocated in the prior fiscal year to the county, cities, and special districts be reduced in accordance with certain formulas. It requires that the revenues not allocated to the county, cities, and special districts as a result of these reductions be transferred to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund in that county for allocation to school districts, community college districts, and the county office of education. This bill would, for purposes of property tax revenue allocations for the 2011–12 and 2012–13 fiscal years, require the county auditor for a county for which a negative sum was calculated pursuant to a specified former statute, in reducing the amount of property tax revenue otherwise allocated to the county by an amount attributable to that negative sum, to apply a reduction amount equal to the reduction amount determined for specified fiscal years. This bill would also, for the 2011–12 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, require the auditor of a qualified county, as defined, to increase the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenue otherwise required to be allocated to that county by the county equity amount, as defined, and to commensurately reduce the total amount of ad valorem property tax revenue otherwise required to be allocated to school entities in the county, as specified. By imposing new duties in the annual allocation of ad valorem property tax revenues, the 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 establishes the California State University and its various campuses under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University. Existing law requires the California State University to offer undergraduate and graduate instruction through the master's degree in the liberal arts and sciences and professional education, including teacher education. This bill would authorize the California State University to award the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The bill would distinguish the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the doctor of philosophy degree offered at the University of California. The bill would require the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program to be designed to enable professionals to earn the degree while working full time, train nurses for advanced practice, and prepare clinical faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing programs. The bill would require initial funding to come from existing budgets, without diminishing the quality of undergraduate programs or reducing enrollment therein. The bill would require the California State University to annually report on the status of the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program, as specified.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, including the Division of Juvenile Facilities, to contract with providers of emergency health care services. Existing law requires hospitals that do not contract with the department for emergency health care services to provide those services on the same basis as they are required to be provided pursuant to specified federal regulations. Existing law prohibits the department from reimbursing a hospital that provides these services without a contract at a rate that exceeds reasonable and allowable costs, as defined by specified federal regulations and publications. The bill would create the Hospital Interim Payment Fund, as a continuously appropriated fund in the State Treasury, for the purpose of making payments to hospitals, for services provided on or after July 1 of the fiscal year for which no budget has been enacted or before November 1 of that year for the purpose of making payments to hospitals, during the period in which the program has a deficiency. The bill would also appropriate from the General Fund, in the form of loans, for each fiscal year in which these payments are necessary, an amount equal to a cumulative total of 33% of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's annual payments to all hospitals in any fiscal year.

Existing law generally requires state agencies to comply with competitive bidding procedures in soliciting and evaluating bids for public works projects. Existing law authorizes bidding preferences for certain categories of business owners, including businesses owned by military veterans. Existing law also requires the Department of General Services, in consultation with the California Environmental Protection Agency, members of the public, industry, and public health and environmental organizations, to provide state agencies with information and assistance regarding environmentally preferable purchasing. This bill would require any state agency that contracts for, or acquires, lumber or other solid wood products, excluding paper and other types of secondary manufactured goods, to give preference, if price, fitness, and quality are equal, to lumber and other solid wood products that are harvested from forests within this state.

Existing law requires every urban water supplier to prepare and adopt an urban water management plan, as prescribed. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of a county to employ a purchasing agent. In counties having a population of 200,000 or more, the board of supervisors may authorize the purchasing agent to engage independent contractors to perform services for the county, as specified, if the aggregate cost does not exceed $100,000. This bill would instead authorize the board of supervisors to authorize the purchasing agent to engage independent contractors to perform services for the county, as specified, if the aggregate cost does not exceed $150,000.

The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. Existing law authorizes a credit against those taxes in an amount equal to the lesser of 5% of the purchase price of a qualified principal residence, as defined, purchased on and after March 1, 2009, and before March 1, 2010, or $10,000, allocated by the Franchise Tax Board on a first-come-first-served basis. Existing law requires a taxpayer to provide the Franchise Tax Board with a certification from the seller of the qualified principal residence that the residence has never been previously occupied within one week of the sale of the residence and caps the total amount of the credit at $100,000,000. This bill would allow the tax credit for purchases of a qualified principal residence made before the date that is 12 months after the effective date of this bill, subject to specified restrictions. This bill would revise the certification requirements to provide that the taxpayer receive the certification no later than one week after the close of escrow on the qualified principal residence and that the Franchise Tax Board be provided with the certification upon request by the board. This bill would also remove the cap on the total credit amount allowed and the requirement that the tax credits be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.