Existing law established the University of California under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. This bill would authorize the University of California to create a University of California Technology Commercialization Acceleration Fund for each campus of the university and the university system for the deposit of contributions made for specified purposes. The bill would require the funds in each University Venture Development Fund to be used only for qualified research expenses, as defined. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would authorize a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2011, in an amount equal to 50% of the amount contributed during the taxable year to the University of California for deposit into a University of California Technology Commercialization Acceleration Fund, as specified.
Sponsored bills
The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. That law provides various exemptions from that tax, including an exemption for the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of, fuel and petroleum products sold to an air common carrier for immediate consumption or shipment in the conduct of its business on an international flight. This bill would, on or after January 1, 2012, exempt from those state taxes, gross receipts or sales price in excess of the average spot price over the previous 5 years, per gallon, derived from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, fuel and petroleum products sold to or purchased by an air common carrier for consumption or shipment in the conduct of its business on a domestic flight, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2017, unless the Legislative Analyst's Office, in cooperation with the Employment Development Department, makes a specified finding, in which case the bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2020. This bill would also require the State Board of Equalization, beginning on January 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, to submit a report to the Legislature setting forth the state fiscal impact of the exemption, and would require the Legislative Analyst's Office, in cooperation with the Employment Development Department, to submit a report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before October 1, 2016, determining whether a net increase of 2,000 or more airline industry jobs have been or are expected to be created in California by the bill on or before January 1, 2017. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing law authorizes districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Exemptions from state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws. This bill would specify that this exemption does not apply to local sales and use taxes or transactions and use taxes. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law provides that, when a child is removed from his or her family by the juvenile court, placement of the child in foster care should secure, as nearly as possible, the custody, care, and discipline equivalent to that which should have been given the child by his or her parents. Existing law provides enumerated rights for children who are placed in foster care. Existing law establishes the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson to disseminate specified information, including the stated rights of foster youth, and to investigate and attempt to resolve complaints made by or on behalf of children placed in foster care, related to their care, placement, or services. This bill would enumerate rights for foster youth relating to mental health services. The bill would require the office, in consultation with various entities, to develop, no later than July 1, 2012, standardized information explaining the rights specified and to distribute this information to foster youth.
Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for administering various programs and services for the benefit of veterans. This bill would appropriate the sum of $7,300,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide for specified veterans' services.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2011, allow a credit of up to $500 per eligible student for qualified costs, as defined, paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, at a qualified educational institution, as defined, on behalf of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or any dependent of the taxpayer. The credit would be limited for all taxable years to a total of $2,000 per eligible student. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates hospitals, as defined. Violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires hospitals, not less than annually, to conduct a security and safety assessment and, using the assessment, develop a security plan with measures to protect personnel, patients, and visitors from aggressive or violent behavior. Existing law provides that the plan may include, but is not limited to, prescribed considerations. This bill would, instead, require the plan to include these considerations, as well as other considerations prescribed by the bill. It would also require the hospital to adopt specified security policies as part of the plan. The bill would also require the hospital to evaluate and treat an employee who is involved in a violent incident and to provide specified followup care. The bill would prohibit a hospital from prohibiting an employee from, or taking punitive or retaliatory action against an employee for, seeking assistance from local emergency services or law enforcement when a violent incident occurs. Under existing law, an act of assault that results in injury or involves the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon against on-duty hospital personnel is required to be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours of the occurrence of the incident. This bill would, instead, require reporting to law enforcement within 24 hours. This bill would also require a hospital to report incidents of assault or battery to the department, as specified. This bill would allow the imposition of a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $100 per day for each day that certain incidents are not reported, as prescribed. The bill would require the department to make an onsite inspection or investigation when it receives a report from a hospital that indicates an ongoing, urgent, or emergent threat of imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to patient, personnel, or visitors. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature, as prescribed, beginning on January 1, 2014, and annually thereafter until January 1, 2018, certain information regarding incidents of violence at hospitals. Under existing law, all hospital employees who are regularly assigned to the emergency department are required to receive, on a continuing basis as provided by the security plan, specified training. This bill would require training to be provided annually, and would include in the required training hospital employees who provide direct care to patients. Because this bill expands the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, the Corrections Standards Authority is required to establish minimum standards for state and local correctional facilities. This bill would require the standards to include a safety and security plan to protect health care personnel who provide care to persons confined in state and local correctional facilities, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, within the Governor's office, to be administered by a director appointed by the Governor. The office serves 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. The office exercises powers related to economic development, including, among others, making recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature regarding policies, programs, and actions to advance statewide economic goals. This bill would require the director, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, to prepare a California Economic and Workforce Development Strategy, as specified, to be updated every 5 years. The bill would require the strategy to make recommendations regarding an economic and workforce development blueprint for the state covering a 5-year time period. The bill would require the director to consult with certain agencies in preparing the blueprint, and would require the strategy to address certain topics. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides for the creation of various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi‑Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Commencing January 1, 2014, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires every individual to be covered under minimum essential coverage, as specified, and requires every health insurance issuer issuing individual or group health insurance coverage to accept every employer and individual who applies for coverage. Existing law establishes the California Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans through the Exchange by qualified individuals and small employers by January 1, 2014. This bill would establish the California Healthcare System to be administered by the newly created California Healthcare Agency under the control of a Healthcare Commissioner appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits under the California Healthcare System, which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services. The bill would require the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, or legislation to allow various existing federal, state, and local health care payments to be paid to the California Healthcare System, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. The bill would create the Healthcare Policy Board to establish policy on medical issues and various other matters relating to the system. The bill would create the Office of Patient Advocacy within the agency to represent the interests of health care consumers relative to the system. The bill would create within the agency the Office of Health Planning to plan for the health care needs of the population, and the Office of Health Care Quality, headed by a chief medical officer, to support the delivery of high-quality care and promote provider and patient satisfaction. The bill would create the Office of Inspector General for the California Healthcare System within the Attorney General's office, which would have various oversight powers. The bill would prohibit health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being issued for services covered by the California Healthcare System, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, and would authorize the collection of penalty moneys for deposit into the Healthcare Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would create the Payments Board to administer the finances of the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the California Healthcare Premium Commission (Premium Commission) to determine the cost of the California Healthcare System and to develop a premium structure for the system that complies with specified standards. The bill would require the Premium Commission to recommend a premium structure to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2014, and to make a draft recommendation to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public 90 days before submitting its final premium structure recommendation. The bill would specify that only its provisions relating to the Premium Commission would become operative on January 1, 2013, with its remaining provisions becoming operative on the earlier of the date the Secretary of California Health and Human Services notifies the Legislature, as specified, that sufficient funding exists to implement the California Healthcare System and the date the secretary receives the necessary federal waiver under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The bill would extend the application of certain insurance fraud laws to providers of services and products under the system, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by revising the definition of a crime. The bill would enact other related provisions relative to budgeting, regional entities, federal preemption, subrogation, collective bargaining agreements, compensation of health care providers, conflict of interest, patient grievances, and independent medical review. 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, the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63, establishes the Mental Health Services Fund to fund specified county mental health programs. The act provides that all moneys in the Mental Health Services Fund are continuously appropriated to the State Department of Mental Health. The act may be amended only by a 23 vote of both houses of the Legislature and only so long as the amendment is consistent with and furthers the intent of the act. This bill would require the department to allocate $57,000,000 of those moneys to county mental health departments for purposes of providing special education services, thereby making an appropriation. The bill also would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction and county mental health directors to jointly convene a technical working group to develop a transitional program to transfer the responsibilities associated with providing special education services from county mental health departments to the State Department of Education. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the Mental Health Services Act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires that child care be provided in 3 stages to recipients of benefits under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. The first stage of child care begins upon the entry of a person into the CalWORKs program. The 2nd stage of child care begins when a county determines that the work or approved work activity of the recipient is stable or when a recipient is making the transition off of aid and child care is available through a local stage 2 program. The 3rd stage of child care, which is administered by programs contracting with the State Department of Education, begins when a funded child care space becomes available for the child or children of the eligible CalWORKs recipient. This bill would reappropriate $60,000,000 in unobligated balances appropriated in the Budget Act of 2009 to the State Department of Education for CalWORKs Stage 3 child care services. The bill would also require the State Department of Education to use those funds for families that were receiving, or would have been eligible to receive, CalWORKs Stage 3 child care services, before, on, or after October 31, 2010. The bill would declare that it makes appropriations for the usual and current expenses of the state, thereby taking immediate effect.