Sen. Jim Beall

This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the United States to work together to enact the robust bipartisan federal infrastructure legislation necessary to restore California's and other states' crumbling road and freight infrastructure, respond to growing traffic congestion, and increase investment in public transportation, most particularly, by expanding paratransit services for the elderly and those with special needs. The measure would additionally urge the Congress and the President of the United States to address the shortfall in the federal Highway Trust Fund by restoring the lost purchasing power of the federal fuel tax, in order to provide the long-term funding stability necessary for California and other states.

Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to obtain day treatment, and to contract for crisis care services, for parolees with mental health problems, and requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide a supportive housing program, known as the Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) program, that provides wraparound services to mentally ill parolees at risk of homelessness using funding appropriated for that purpose. Existing law provides that an inmate or parolee is eligible for participation if the inmate has a serious mental disorder, as defined, has been assigned a release date from state prison, and is likely to become homeless upon release or is currently a homeless parolee. Existing law requires providers to offer various services, including housing location services and rental subsidies. Existing law requires a service provider to comply with specified requirements, including, among others, that the service provider has prior experience working with county or regional mental health programs. This bill would repeal the ISMIP program and would instead enact the Supportive Housing Program for Persons on Parole (the program) to be administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The program would incorporate similar eligibility criteria for eligible participants and similar criteria for housing funded by the program. The bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to transfer funds appropriated from the General Fund for the ISMIP program to the department for the new program, as specified. The bill would also require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish a process for referring ISMIP participants from the ISMIP upon the repeal of that program to the program created by the bill. These provisions would become operative when the Director of Finance notifies the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that sufficient funding has been appropriated by the Legislature to the department for these purposes. The bill would also require the department to hire an independent evaluator of the program and to submit the evaluation to the Legislature, as specified.

(1) Existing law establishes a low-income housing tax credit program pursuant to which the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) provides procedures and requirements for the allocation, in modified conformity with federal law, of state insurance, personal income, and corporation tax credit amounts to qualified low-income housing projects that have been allocated, or qualify for, a federal low-income housing tax credit, and farmworker housing. Existing law limits the total annual amount of the state low-income housing credit for which a federal low-income housing credit is required to the sum of $70,000,000, as increased by any percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year, any unused credit for the preceding calendar years, and the amount of housing credit ceiling returned in the calendar year, and authorizes CTCAC, for calendar years beginning in 2020, to allocate an additional $500,000,000 to specified low-income housing projects and, for calendar years beginning in 2021, requires this additional amount only to be available for allocation pursuant to an authorization in the annual Budget Act or related legislation, and specified regulatory action by CTCAC. This bill would remove the requirement that, beginning in the 2021 calendar year, the above-described additional $500,000,000 allocation only be available pursuant to an authorization in the annual Budget Act or related legislation, and specified regulatory action by CTCAC. (2) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

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, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. For 2018, the adjusted gross income limit is $83,282 and $41,641, respectively. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account in the General Fund and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account, including any amount allowable as an earned income tax credit in excess of any tax liabilities. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, and only when specified in a bill relating to the Budget Act, would increase the credit amount for a qualified renter to $220 and $434, as provided. In the event the increased credit amount is not specified in a bill relating to the Budget Act, the existing credit amounts of $120 and $60, as described above, respectively, would be the credit amounts for that taxable year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually recompute for inflation the credit amount for taxable years on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2025, unless otherwise provided. The bill would provide findings and declarations relating to the goals, purposes, and objectives of this credit. The bill, for credits allowable for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, would provide that the credit amount in excess of the qualified renter's liability would be refundable and paid from the Tax Relief and Refund Account to the qualified renter upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law establishes the Investment in Mental Health Wellness Act of 2013. Existing law provides that funds appropriated by the Legislature to the California Health Facilities Financing Authority and the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission for the purposes of the act be made available through a grant program to selected counties or counties acting jointly, except as otherwise provided, and be used to provide, among other things, a complete continuum of crisis services for children and youth 21 years of age and under regardless of where they live in the state. This bill would require the commission, when making grant funds available on and after July 1, 2021, to allocate at least 12 of those funds to youth services, as specified, if moneys are appropriated for this purpose. The bill would require this funding to be made available to support prevention, early intervention, and direct services, as determined by the commission. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to consider specified criteria when determining grant recipients. The bill would authorize the commission to allocate the funds towards other purposes if there is an inadequate number of qualified applicants, as specified. The bill would require the commission to provide a status report to the fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, as specified, no later than March 1, 2022.

Existing law establishes the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law provides for licensing and regulation of various professions in the healing arts, including physicians and surgeons, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and licensed professional clinical counselors. This bill would require the Trustees of the California State University and the governing board of each community college district to establish a goal of having one full-time equivalent mental health counselor with an applicable California license per 1,500 students enrolled at each of their respective campuses to the extent consistent with state and federal law. The bill would define mental health counselor for purposes of this provision. The bill would require those institutions, on or before January 1, 2021, and every 3 years thereafter, to report to the Legislature how funding was spent and the number of mental health counselors employed on each of its campuses, as specified. The bill would require each campus of those institutions to, at least every 3 years, conduct a campus survey and focus groups to understand students' needs and challenges regarding, among other things, their mental health, would require each campus of those institutions to collect data on attempted suicides, as specified, and would require that data, without any personally identifiable information and collected in accordance with state and federal privacy law, to be included in the report to the Legislature. To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute 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.

Existing law establishes the California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program, under the administration of the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires the department to, among other things, provide rental assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services to ensure housing affordability to people who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness. This bill would require the department to develop and administer a program to award grants to qualified homeless shelters, as described, for the provision of shelter, food, and basic veterinary services for pets owned by people experiencing homelessness.

Existing law, the California Suicide Prevention Act of 2000, authorizes the State Department of Health Care Services to establish and implement a suicide prevention, education, and gatekeeper training program to reduce the severity, duration, and incidence of suicidal behaviors. This bill would require counties to create and implement, and update every 3 years, a suicide-prevention strategic plan that places particular emphasis on preventing suicide in children who are less than 19 years of age and includes specified components, including long-term suicide-prevention goals and the selection or development of interventions to be used to prevent suicide. The bill would require counties, as part of the planning process to, among other things, provide recommendations to individuals and organizations working with youth on early intervention, implementation of crisis management systems, and addressing suicide risk for vulnerable populations. The bill would make these provisions inapplicable to a county that had a suicide-prevention strategic plan on January 1, 2020, that meets these requirements. By creating a new duty for counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. This bill, to the extent it is consistent with and authorized by the MHSA, would authorize counties to use MHSA funds to implement the above-described provisions. The bill would condition implementation of its provisions by a county on an appropriation by the Legislature or the county using MHSA funds, as described above. 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.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, would allow a credit against those taxes to a qualified taxpayer, as defined, in an amount equal to 3% of the amount of rent or lease payments in the form of certain federal housing assistance vouchers per qualified property, defined as a dwelling or unit rented or leased to persons receiving certain federal assistance. The bill would require the taxpayer, to be eligible for the credit, to obtain verification from the appropriate local housing authority, as defined, that the property for which a credit is claimed satisfies the definition of qualified property and to provide a copy of the verification to the Franchise Tax Board. This bill would limit the credit to 5 qualified properties per taxpayer per taxable year. The bill would also provide that the credit amount is $0 for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, unless otherwise specified in a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Act. By imposing new duties upon local government officials with respect to the verification of qualified properties, 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. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to determine the amount of funding to be provided for each special education local plan area in accordance with specified calculations. Existing law requires the Superintendent, for the 2013–14 fiscal year, to compute an equalization adjustment for each special education local plan area for purposes of increasing the funding rates for special education local plan areas with funding rates below the 90th percentile, as specified. This bill would increase that percentile to the 95th percentile and would require the Superintendent to compute that equalization adjustment commencing with the first fiscal year after funds are apportioned pursuant to a specified formula and for each fiscal year thereafter in which an equalization appropriation is made, as specified. The bill would require the Superintendent to make certain computations following each year in which an equalization appropriation is made. The bill would establish the high-cost service allowance for the purpose of providing supplemental funding to a special education local plan area on the basis of the number of pupils who are severely disabled and the number pupils with both deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, or multiple disabilities, and would require the Superintendent to make specified computations that would determine the high-cost service allowance for each special education local plan area. The bill would require, commencing with the first fiscal year after funds are apportioned pursuant to a specified formula, a special education local plan area that reports serving children 3 or 4 years of age who meet the definition of an "individual with exceptional needs" to count 3 times all units of average daily attendance generated by children enrolled in kindergarten less those children eligible for transitional kindergarten, for purposes of calculating units of average daily attendance, except as provided. By adding to the duties of special education local plan areas, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law defines "average daily attendance reported for the special education local plan area" for purposes of these and other provisions to mean the total number of units of average daily attendance reported in the school district or districts and in the county office of education or county offices of education, or portion of a county office of education that is a part of more than one special education local plan area, as specified. The bill would revise that definition to mean the total number of units of average daily attendance reported for the current school year or the prior school year, whichever is greater, in those same entities, as specified. 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.