Sen. Steve Knight

The Personal Income Tax Law conforms to specified provisions of the federal Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, relating to the exclusion of the discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness, as defined, from a taxpayer's income if that debt is discharged after January 1, 2007, and before January 1, 2010, as provided. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extended the operation of those provisions to debt that is discharged before January 1, 2013. This bill would provide further conformity to those federal acts, as provided. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would observe June 20, 2010, as Father's Day and recognize the contribution of fathers. This measure would also urge men to embrace the responsibilities of fathering a child and encourage parents to strengthen their relationship by attending and participating in marriage and relationship education classes. The measure would state the intent of the Legislature to explore ways to increase access to and participation in marriage and relationship education programs.

(1) Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education. Existing law establishes a program within the State Nursing Assumption Program of Loans for Education (SNAPLE) , administered by the commission, under which any person who is enrolled in an eligible institution, and who agrees to work full time as a registered nurse in a state-operated 24-hour facility, including a prison, psychiatric hospital, or veterans' home, that employs registered nurses, is eligible to receive a conditional loan assumption agreement, to be redeemed upon becoming employed as a clinical registered nurse in a state-operated 24-hour facility that employs registered nurses and that has a clinical registered nurse vacancy rate of greater than 10%. The SNAPLE program provides for a progressive assumption of the amount of a qualifying loan over 4 consecutive years of qualifying clinical registered nursing service, up to a total loan assumption of $20,000. Under existing law, this program becomes inoperative on July 1, 2012, and is repealed on January 1, 2013. This bill would provide for an additional loan assumption of up to $5,000 per year for a participant that completes qualifying clinical registered nursing service at a state-operated veterans' home, thus raising the maximum total loan assumption authorized under the program for service at a state-operated veterans' home to $40,000. (2) Under the SNAPLE program, if a program participant becomes unable to complete one of the 4 consecutive years of qualifying clinical registered nursing service due to serious illness, pregnancy, or other natural causes, the term of the loan assumption agreement is extended for a period not to exceed one year. This bill would add active military duty in the United States Armed Forces to the list of occurrences that would authorize the extension of the term of the loan assumption agreement. It would also authorize an extension for any of these occurrences for a period longer than one year if approved by the commission.

This bill would urge the President of the United States and the Congress to employ necessary measures to ensure that no terrorist or suspected terrorist detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is permitted to enter California in custody or otherwise.

This measure would declare February 19, 2010, as a Day of Remembrance in order to increase public awareness of the events surrounding the internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. The CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the CEQA.

This measure would recognize February 2010 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and contributions that African Americans make to their communities.

Existing law prescribes procedures for the issuance of registered warrants and provides that a registered warrant is acceptable and may be used as security for the performance of any public or private trust or obligation. This bill would, if the Controller makes a specified determination, require a state agency to accept, from a person or entity, a registered warrant issued by the Controller and endorsed by that payee, at full face value, for the payment of any obligations owed by that payee to that state agency. The bill would specify that its requirements do not apply to certain obligations and would require the Controller, on or before the September 1 following the conclusion of a fiscal year in which a state agency is required to accept registered warrants pursuant to these provisions, to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The bill would make its provisions inoperative on July 1, 2012, and would repeal them on January 1, 2013. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act provides for the creation and regulation of common interest developments. Under existing law, a common interest development is managed by an association pursuant to the provisions of the governing documents of the development. This bill would provide that any provision that is added to or included in a governing document initially recorded on or after January 1, 2011, that prohibits the rental or lease of a separate interest is void, unless the provision imposing the prohibition is approved by the owners of separate interests, as provided. Existing law requires that an owner of a separate interest in a common interest development provide certain items to a prospective purchaser prior to transfer of title. This bill would also require the owner of a separate interest, when a governing document prohibits the rental or leasing of all or any of the separate interests, to provide a statement describing the prohibition. This bill would also incorporate additional changes to Section 1368 of the Civil Code, as proposed by SB 1128, to be operative only if SB 1128 and this bill are both enacted, each bill amends Section 1368 of the Civil Code, and this bill is enacted after SB 1128.

The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to adopt those regulations that are necessary to carry out the act. The act also requires the commission, after one or more public hearings, to prescribe, by regulation, standards for minimum levels of operating efficiency and prescribe other measures, such as energy and water consumption labeling not preempted by federal labeling law, to promote the use of energy and water efficient appliances that do not result in any added total costs for consumers over the designed life of the appliances concerned. This bill would provide that the television product labeling regulations adopted by the commission would not be effective until July 1, 2011, and would be effective on that date only if a United States Federal Trade Commission labeling rule for those products is not effective on or before July 1, 2011. The bill also would provide that those regulations would remain in effect only until a Federal Trade Commission labeling rule for television products becomes effective.