The existing Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) . Existing law requires the Energy Commission to undertake a continuing assessment of trends in the consumption of electricity and other forms of energy and to analyze the social, economic, and environmental consequences of those trends and to collect from electric utilities, gas utilities, and fuel producers and wholesalers and other sources, forecasts of future supplies and consumption of all forms of energy. This bill would require each large electrical corporation, as defined, and large local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, to identify and designate zones within their service territory that are optimal for deployment of distributed generation, and to provide this information to the Energy Commission by December 31, 2012. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , to develop guidelines for those electrical utilities to utilize in identifying and designating those zones. The bill would require the Energy Commission to review each electrical utility's designation of zones that are optimal for deployment of distributed generation and approve or disapprove the designation of zones made by each electrical utility. The bill would require that, upon approval by the Energy Commission, that each electrical utility make this information available on its Internet Web site. Under existing law, the PUC has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to administer, until January 1, 2016, a self-generation incentive program for distributed generation resources and to separately administer solar technologies pursuant to the California Solar Initiative. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that in supervising and administering the California Solar Initiative and self-generation program, that the PUC give priority to those distributed generation projects that are proposed to be located within zones designated by an electrical corporation to be optimal for deployment of distributed generation. The bill would additionally state the intent of the Legislature that the PUC review current rules, pertaining to interconnection, to facilitate interconnections of distributed generation facilities within those zones.
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Under existing law, a person may not make automated telephone calls without satisfying the requirements of state law and the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, which require, among other things, that the automated caller obtain the prior consent of the persons to whom the calls are directed or that the call be operated after an unrecorded, natural voice announcement has been made to the person called by the person calling, as specified. Existing provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibit a candidate, committee, or slate mailer organization from expending campaign funds, directly or indirectly, to pay for telephone calls that are similar in nature and aggregate 500 or more in number, made by an individual, or individuals, or by electronic means and that advocate support of, or opposition to, a candidate, ballot measure, or both, unless during the course of each call the name of the organization that authorized or paid for the call is disclosed to the recipient of the call, except as specified. This bill would make it unlawful for any person to make an automated campaign telephone call, as defined, to any person who has elected to have his or her name and telephone number placed on the California Political Robocall Do Not Call List, which the bill would require the Secretary of State to establish, manage, and maintain. This bill would prohibit these calls even if the caller obtains the prior consent of the persons to whom the calls are directed or the call is operated after an unrecorded, natural voice announcement has been made to the person called by the person calling. The bill would provide that the list shall contain the names and telephone numbers of registered voters who have elected to be on the list. The bill would require the Secretary of State to place on voter registration cards and online voter registration Internet Web sites a space providing an option for a registered voter to elect to place his or her name and telephone number on the list. This bill would require the Secretary of State to make a copy of the list, and any parts thereof, available to certain persons who are seeking to make automated campaign telephone calls upon payment of a fee by those persons. The bill would require the Secretary of State to determine the amount of the fee to be charged. The bill would prohibit the fee from exceeding the Secretary of State's cost of managing and maintaining the list. This bill would require county elections officials, in the implementation of this bill, to cooperate with the Secretary of State, vendors, and any voter registration agency. By changing the duties of county elections officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974 make a violation of the act subject to administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. This bill would provide that a violation of the above provisions pertaining to automated campaign telephone calls shall not subject a person to criminal liability. This bill would provide that the above-described provisions shall not become operative until 90 days after the date the Secretary of State certifies that the state has a statewide voter registration database that complies with certain requirements of federal law. This bill would provide that its provision are severable. 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 these statutory provisions. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.
(1) Existing law establishes the public school system in this state, and, among other things, provides for the establishment of school districts throughout the state and for their provision of instruction at the public elementary and secondary schools they operate and maintain. Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, among other things, requires school districts and county offices of education to be responsible for the overall development of comprehensive school safety plans for schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and further requires the Department of Justice and the State Department of Education to contract with one or more professional trainers to coordinate statewide workshops for school districts, county offices of education, and schoolsite personnel to assist them in the development of school safety and crisis response plans. This bill, as of July 1, 2012, would encourage the inclusion of policies and procedures aimed at the prevention of bullying in comprehensive school safety plans. The bill also would require the Department of Justice and the State Department of Education to contract to provide training in the prevention of bullying, as defined in the bill. (2) Existing law requires each person between 6 and 18 years of age, inclusive, who is not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full-time day school in the school district in which his or her parent or guardian is a resident. Existing law authorizes the governing boards of 2 or more school districts to enter into an agreement, for a term not to exceed 5 school years, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils who are residents of the districts. Existing law requires the supervisor of attendance of the school district of residence to issue an individual permit verifying the district's approval, pursuant to policies of the governing board of the school district and terms of the agreement, for the transfer. Existing law establishes an appeal process for pupils whose permits are denied, or, in the absence of an agreement between the school districts, if the school districts fail or refuse to enter into an agreement. This bill, as of July 1, 2012, would require that a pupil who has been determined by personnel of either the school district of residence or the school district of proposed enrollment to have been the victim of an act of bullying, as defined, committed by a pupil of the school district of residence be given priority for interdistrict attendance under any existing interdistrict attendance agreement or, in the absence of an agreement, be given additional consideration for the creation of an interdistrict attendance agreement, at the request of the person having legal custody of the pupil. To the extent this provision would impose new or additional duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the school district superintendent or the school principal determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited to, bullying, as defined to include sexual harassment, hate violence, or harassment, threats, or intimidation. This bill, as of July 1, 2012, would amend the definition of bullying in this provision by specifying that bullying means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act, as defined, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment, hate violence, or harassment, threats, or intimidation, that has the effect or can reasonably be predicted to have the effect of placing a reasonable pupil, as defined, in fear of harm to that pupil's or those pupils' person or property, causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health, causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with his or her academic performance, or causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school. (4) The bill would also make various technical and conforming changes. (5) 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law provides that if a defendant becomes mentally incompetent, a trial or judgment related to that defendant shall be suspended until he or she becomes mentally competent. Existing law establishes procedures whereby the court determines the appropriate facility where an incompetent defendant shall be delivered for treatment, and determines whether the defendant consents to the administration of antipsychotic medication, or determines whether involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication is appropriate, as specified. This bill would require, as of July 1, 2012, the court to determine if the defendant lacks capacity to make decisions regarding antipsychotic medication before seeking consent from the defendant for those medications. The bill would provide that when, under specified conditions and in the opinion of the treating psychiatrist, involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication becomes necessary, that medication may be administered to the defendant for not more than 21 days, provided, however, that, within 72 hours of certifying that involuntary antipsychotic medication has become medically necessary and appropriate, an administrative law judge conducts a hearing and reviews the treating psychiatrist's determination to administer the medication and concurs in that determination. The bill would require the defendant to be represented at the hearing by an attorney or patients' rights advocate and would prescribe other rights of the defendant with respect to the hearing. The bill would provide that if the administrative law judge concurs in the treating psychiatrist's certification, antipsychotic medication would be authorized to continue to be administered for the 21-day certification period and if the administrative law judge disagrees with the certification, the medication would not be administered until a court so ordered. The bill would require the treating psychiatrist to file a copy of the certification and a petition with the court for issuance of an order to administer antipsychotic medication beyond the 21-day certification period, as specified, and would waive fees for the filing of the petition or other document or paper related to the petition. The bill would require the court to determine, prior to the expiration of the 21-day certification period, whether the medication should be administered beyond the 21-day certification period, as specified. The bill would provide that an order for the involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication beyond the 21-day certification period would be valid for no more than one year, and would require the court to review the order 6 months after the order was made, as specified, to determine if the grounds for involuntary medication remain. The bill would require reports at 6-month intervals, or until the defendant becomes mentally competent, and would require certain items to be addressed in the report, including, among other things, whether or not the defendant has the capacity to make decisions concerning antipsychotic medication. After reviewing the reports, a court would be required to determine whether the need for continued administration of antipsychotic medication exists, as specified. The bill would also provide that its terms do not preclude a defendant from filing a petition for habeas corpus to challenge the continuing validity of an order authorizing the involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue a California high school equivalency certificate and an official score report, or an official score report only, to any person who has not completed high school and who meets specified requirements, including, among others, that the person meets any of the following: is at least 18 years of age; would have graduated from high school had he or she remained in school and followed the usual course of study toward graduation; or, is at least 17 years of age, has accumulated fewer than 100 units of high school credit, and is confined to a state or county hospital or to an institution maintained by a state or county correctional agency. This bill would add being at least 17 years of age, having accumulated fewer than 100 units of high school credit before enrollment in the academic program of a dropout recovery high school, as defined, and successfully completing the academic program of a dropout recovery high school, as an additional option that a person could meet to satisfy that requirement.
Existing law requires the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority to establish a renewable energy program to provide financial assistance to public power entities, independent generators, utilities, or businesses manufacturing components or systems to generate new and renewable energy sources, develop clean and efficient distributed generation, and demonstrate the economic feasibility of new technologies. Existing law defines "renewable energy" to include specified energy generation technologies. This bill would expand the definition of "renewable energy" to include energy generation based on thermal energy systems such as landfill gas turbines, engines, and microturbines; and digester gas turbines, engines, and microturbines.
Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy in the Natural Resources Agency with prescribed powers and responsibilities for implementing a program of agricultural land protection, area restoration, and resource enhancement within the coastal zone, as defined. Existing law authorizes the conservancy, for the purpose of implementing the provisions governing the conservancy, to fund and undertake plans and feasibility studies, and award grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations. This bill would additionally authorize the conservancy, for the purpose of implementing the provisions governing the conservancy, to award a grant to a for-profit entity to accomplish removal or alteration of the San Clemente Dam under specified conditions. The bill would limit total expenditures of state funds for the removal or alteration of the San Clemente Dam and related activities to not more than $25,000,000.
This measure would designate a specified location on State Highway Route 1 in the City of Guadalupe in Santa Barbara County as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway. This measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, to erect those signs.
(1) Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, on or before September 1, 2011, to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, as defined, and requires that the fire prevention fee be adjusted annually using prescribed methods. Existing law requires the State Board of Equalization to collect the fire prevention fees, as prescribed, commencing with the 2011–12 fiscal year. Existing law establishes the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and prohibits the collections of fire prevention fees if, commencing with the 2012–13 fiscal year, there are sufficient amounts of moneys in the fund to finance specified fire prevention activities for a fiscal year. Existing law requires that the fire prevention fees collected, except as provided, be deposited into the fund and be made available, to the board and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for certain specified fire protection activities that benefit the owners of structures in state responsibility areas who are required to pay the fee. Existing law further requires the board, on and after January 1, 2013, to submit an annual written report to the Legislature on specified topics. This bill would repeal the above provisions relating to the fire prevention fees. (2) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. Governor Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on December 6, 2010. Governor Brown issued a proclamation on January 20, 2011, declaring and reaffirming that a fiscal emergency exists and stating that his proclamation supersedes the earlier proclamation for purposes of that constitutional provision. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared and reaffirmed by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 20, 2011, pursuant to the California Constitution.