Sen. Jean Fuller

This measure would proclaim the month of May to be Women Veterans Recognition Month.

This measure would request the United States Department of the Interior to reconsider its decision to abandon implementation of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project and to restart the series of meetings designed to result in completion of the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010, and would respectfully request Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and all other members of the California congressional delegation to request the United States Department of the Interior to restart its involvement in the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project with the goal of completing the necessary environmental review and engineering design to construct the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in 2010.

Existing law, the Field Act, requires the Department of General Services under the police power of the state to supervise the design and construction of a school building, as defined, or the reconstruction or alteration of, or addition to, a school building, if not exempted under specified law, to ensure that plans and specifications comply with adopted rules and regulations and building standards published in regulations, and to ensure that the work of construction is performed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications for the protection of life and property. As the work of construction or alteration progresses and when the department requires, the licensed architect or structural engineer in charge of observing construction or registered engineer in charge of observing other work, the inspector on the work, and the contractor are each required to submit reports, based on personal knowledge, as defined, to the department that the work and materials comply with the approved plans and specifications. When the construction is completed, notice of completion is filed, specified reports are submitted to the department, and all required fees are paid, the department is required to issue a certification that the school building complies with the requirements of the Field Act. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the contractor submit periodic reports to the department that the work and materials comply with the approved plans and specifications and would eliminate the requirement that notice of completion be filed before the department issues a certification that the school building complies with the Field Act requirements. The bill also would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Existing law, generally, imposes a minimum franchise tax of $800, except as provided, on every corporation incorporated in this state, qualified to transact intrastate business in this state, or doing business in this state, and on every limited partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited liability company registered, qualified to transact business, or doing business in this state, as specified. This bill would, for the first 10 taxable years of a corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited liability company that is a small business, as defined, and that first commences business operations on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2016, reduce that minimum tax, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The California Constitution prohibits a bill other than the Budget Bill from being heard or acted upon by a committee or either house of the Legislature until the 31st day after the bill is introduced, unless the house dispenses of this requirement by a 34 vote. This measure would also prohibit a committee of the Legislature from hearing or voting upon a bill in regular session unless the bill has been printed and distributed to the members at least 48 hours in advance, or, in a special session, has been printed and distributed to the members at least 24 hours in advance. The measure would permit these requirements to be dispensed with by the house by a 23 vote. The measure would also define "printed and distributed" to include electronic publication and distribution.

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 exempts from use tax, the storage, use, or the consumption of the first $800 of tangible personal property that is purchased in a foreign country and hand-carried into this state within a 30- day period. That law requires the payment of interest at a specified rate on a failure to timely pay taxes, from the date on which those amounts became due and payable to the state until the date of payment. That law authorizes the State Board of Equalization, in its discretion, to relieve all or any part of interest imposed under specified circumstances. This bill would allow the members of the board, meeting as a public body, to relieve, for a taxpayer, as described, all or any part of the interest imposed on the failure to timely pay use tax on the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property, where the board discovered the nonpayment as a result of obtaining information with respect to the liability from the United States Customs Service, if the tax is remitted within 90 days of notification by the board.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, which, among other things, provides for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools in the state. Existing law establishes the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to regulate private postsecondary institutions through the powers granted, and the duties imposed, by the act. This bill would prohibit the bureau, for the period July 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, inclusive, from enforcing the act against institutions that offer flight instruction or institutions that offer Federal Aviation Administration certified educational programs in aircraft maintenance. The bill would also require those institutions to notify the bureau if they operate during that period. (2) The act prohibits institutions, as defined, from performing various actions. This bill would prohibit an institution from offering an unaccredited doctoral degree program without disclosing to prospective students that the degree program is unaccredited, and any known limitation of the unaccredited degree, including, but not limited to, whether the degree is recognized for licensure or certification in other states. (3) The act prohibits an ability-to-benefit student, defined as a student who does not have a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or a recognized equivalent of that certificate, from enrolling in an institution unless the student achieves a specified score on an independently administered examination from a specified list of examinations prescribed by the United States Department of Education that demonstrates that the student may benefit from the education and training being offered. This bill would authorize the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to publish its own list of acceptable examinations if the United States Department of Education does not have a list of relevant examinations that pertain to the intended occupational training. (4) The act requires specified private postsecondary institutions to refund 100% of the amount paid for institutional charges, less specified expenses, if notice of cancellation is made through attendance at the first class session, or the 7th class day after enrollment, whichever is later. This bill would change the 2nd deadline for notice of cancellation from the 7th class day after enrollment to the 7th day after enrollment. (5) Existing law defines "graduates employed in the field," for purposes of the act, as graduates who are gainfully employed within 6 months of graduation in a position for which the skills obtained through the education and training provided by the institution are required or provided a significant advantage to the graduate in obtaining the position. This bill would revise this definition to remove skills obtained that have provided a significant advantage to the graduate in obtaining the position, and include skills that are utilized to perform the purpose or objective of the position or the major responsibilities of the position. (6) Existing law appropriates $580,000 from the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Administration Fund to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, for the purpose of funding 5 private postsecondary education specialist and senior specialist positions. This bill would require those positions to be permanent, full-time positions to perform work in conformity with the classification specifications as directed by the bureau chief. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing and makes a violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires a licensee renewing his or her license to submit proof to the board that during a specified time the licensee has been informed of developments in the registered nursing field either by pursuing a continuing education course offered by a provider approved by the board or by other means deemed equivalent by the board. Existing law requires the board to establish, by regulation, standards for continuing education. Existing law requires these standards to make a variety of alternative forms of continuing education available to licensees. Existing law requires the content of all courses of continuing education to be relevant to the practice of nursing. This bill would provide that continuing education courses, as specified, that advance or promote labor organizing on behalf of a union, or that advance or promote statutory or regulatory changes, political candidates, political advocacy, or political strategy shall not be considered content relevant to the practice of nursing and shall not be acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal. The bill would also prohibit an approved provider from representing that such a continuing education course is acceptable for meeting requirements for licensure renewal and would require the board, subject to specified procedural requirements, to withdraw its approval of a provider that violates that requirement for no less than 5 years, as specified. Because a violation of these requirements by a provider would constitute a crime, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would declare February 23, 2010, to be Spay Day USA 2010 in California, and would request that Californians observe that day by having their dogs and cats spayed or neutered and by providing voluntary services or other support to organizations that provide spay and neuter services.

This measure would call upon the State Air Resources Board, prior to any regulatory action being taken consistent with the scoping plan for the implementation of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to perform an economic analysis that will give the State of California a more complete and accurate picture of the costs and benefits of the act's implementation. The measure would also call upon the Governor to use the authority granted by the act to adjust any applicable deadlines for regulations.