Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards, the Cal Grant C awards, and the Cal Grant T awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. Existing law provides that any California resident is entitled to a Cal Grant B Entitlement award, and requires the commission to allocate that award, if certain criteria are met, including that the student submit a complete financial aid application, submitted or postmarked no later than March 2 of the academic year of high school graduation or its equivalent for the award year immediately following the academic year of high school graduation or its equivalent, or no later than March 2 of the academic year following high school graduation or its equivalent for the 2nd award year following the year of high school graduation or its equivalent. This bill would provide alternative deadlines for submitting a complete financial aid application for a student who is a current or former foster youth, who is attending a qualifying institution that offers baccalaureate degrees or is attending a California community college, and has not yet reached 26 years of age as of July 1 of the initial award year. Existing law authorizes the renewal of Cal Grant B awards for a total of the equivalent of 4 years of full-time attendance in an undergraduate program, provided that minimum financial need, as defined, continues to exist, subject to certain exceptions. This bill would authorize the renewal of Cal Grant B awards, for a current or former foster youth, for a total of the equivalent of 8 years of full-time attendance in an undergraduate program, provided that minimum financial need continues to exist.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law establishes a system of state prisons under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Existing law authorizes the department to institute various programs for inmates, including programs for education and job training. This bill would require the department to develop guidelines for inmate participation in preapprenticeship training programs, as specified. The bill would also require the department to coordinate with local state-approved apprenticeship programs and local building trade councils so that inmates who complete an inmate preapprenticeship program have a pathway to employment upon release. (2) Existing law authorizes the Department of General Services, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and various local agencies to use the design-build procurement process for specified public works under different laws. This bill would authorize the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to award contracts for construction projects over $500,000 using the design-build contracting process or construction manager at-risk contracts, as defined, if, on or before September 30, 2019, the department enters into a 10-year community workforce agreement with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California that applies to all construction contracts over $500,000. The bill would require the community workforce agreement to include provisions to encourage work opportunities for previously incarcerated individuals who have completed an inmate preapprenticeship program and include a plan for outreach and retention of women and military service veterans to help increase employment opportunities in the building and construction trades. The bill would authorize the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to renew or modify the agreement for 5-year terms.
Existing law imposes an additional 3-year sentence for each prior separate prison term served by a defendant where the prior and current offense was a violent felony, as defined. If that provision does not apply, existing law instead imposes a one-year term for each prior separate prison term or county jail felony term under the law, except under specified circumstances. This bill would delete the provision that requires an additional one-year term. The bill would make additional technical, nonsubstantive changes.
This measure would recognize May 2018 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in California to enhance public awareness of mental illness.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester for those operations has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Existing law requires the department to review, approve, require the modification of, or disapprove timber harvesting plans in accordance with prescribed procedures. This bill would require the department to ensure that, before the approval of a timber harvesting plan or an associated permit on lands owned by the San Jose Water Company, the San Jose Water Company conducts 2 public hearings on the timber harvesting plan or associated permit, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is a member of the interagency review team for any timber harvesting document proposed by the San Jose Water Company, and the County of Santa Clara and the appropriate regional water quality control boards each conduct a public hearing on the timber harvesting plan or associated permit. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to license and regulate substance use disorder programs and facilities, as specified, and provides various programs for education about and treatment of substance use disorders. This bill would state the Legislature's long-range goals through the creation of one-year and five-year plans to expand the substance use disorder treatment workforce in California to aid in the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse. The bill would set out one-year goals for school districts, the California State University system, the University of California, the community college system, and the department. The bill would also set out five-year plans to be created by the department, in collaboration with other state agencies, including coordination with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OHSPD) to administer grants, stipends, and loan repayment programs for counselors, peers, and licensed professionals who enroll in addiction-related coursework, with special emphasis on applicants who are able to fill identified cultural, linguistic, and geographic shortage areas. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2023, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2024.
This measure would designate April 2018 as Autism Awareness Month and would encourage residents to show support for autism awareness.
(1) Existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992, provides for the establishment and operation of charter schools. The act authorizes the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, and the State Board of Education to approve a petition for the establishment of a charter school and to act as a chartering authority. Existing law prohibits the governing board of a school district from denying a petition unless it makes written factual findings, specific to the particular petition, to support one or more specific findings. Existing law requires a county board of education to deny a petition if it makes one or more specific findings, and existing law authorizes the state board to deny a petition based on any of the reasons a county board of education is required to deny a petition. This bill would add to the list of reasons justifying denial of a charter petition by the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, or the state board, among other things, that the charter school is unlikely to meet its financial obligations, maintain a positive fund balance, and maintain a prudent level of reserves for the duration of the charter agreement, and that the governing board of a school district, county board of education, or state board determines, based on justification, that approving the charter school would not be in the best interests of the pupils of the community. The bill would also require the governing board of a school district and a county board of education, after receiving a petition, to conduct a capacity interview for the petitioner to demonstrate experience and expertise relating to the contents of the petition, as provided. To the extent the bill would impose new requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires each chartering authority to take specified actions for purposes of oversight of the charter schools under its authority. Existing law authorizes a chartering authority to charge for the actual costs of supervisorial oversight of a charter school an amount not to exceed 1% of the revenue of the charter school, and authorizes a chartering authority to charge for those costs an amount not to exceed 3% of the revenue of the charter school if the charter school is able to obtain substantially rent-free facilities from the chartering authority. This bill would also require each chartering authority to monitor the fiscal conditions, academic performance, and governance of a charter school for purposes of oversight of the charter schools under its authority, as specified. The bill would increase the amount a chartering authority is authorized to charge for the actual costs of supervisorial oversight of a charter school to an amount not to exceed 3% of the revenue of the charter school, and an amount not to exceed 6% of the revenue of the charter school if the charter school is able to obtain substantially rent-free facilities from the chartering authority. To the extent the bill would impose new requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law authorizes a charter school to be deemed a local educational agency for purposes of special education funding or to be deemed a public school of the local educational agency that granted the charter for those purposes. Existing law requires that individuals with exceptional needs attending charter schools be served in the same manner as individuals with exceptional needs are served in other public schools. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst, on or before July 1, 2020, to submit a report to the Legislature on special education services for pupils with disabilities in charter schools, and would require the report to include policy recommendations and take certain considerations into account. (4) 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 Local Housing Trust Fund Matching Grant Program for the purpose of supporting local housing trust funds dedicated to the creation or preservation of affordable housing. The Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2002, among other things, allocates $25,000,000 from the proceeds of general obligation bonds issued and sold under that act to be used for specified grants under the program. Existing law authorizes the use of that allocation of funds for matching grants under the program available to cities and counties, or a city and county, and existing charitable nonprofit organizations that have created, funded, and operated housing trust funds prior to January 1, 2003, and to new local housing trusts created after January 1, 2003, that provide low-income housing assistance. This bill would instead authorize matching grants to cities and counties, or a city and county, and existing charitable nonprofit organizations that, as of January 1, 2019, have previously received a matching grant pursuant to the Local Housing Trust Fund Matching Grant Program and to new local housing trusts that provide low-income housing assistance and, as of that same date, have not previously received a matching grant pursuant to the program.