The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) , on and after January 1, 2013, requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act and, among other provisions, establishes certain new retirement formulas that may not be exceeded by a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan. PEPRA provides, for purposes of determining a retirement benefit paid to a person who first becomes a member of a public retirement system on or after January 1, 2013, that final compensation means the highest average annual pensionable compensation earned, as defined, during a period of at least 36 consecutive months, or at least 3 consecutive school years. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision.
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Existing law requires the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education to request that the Instructional Quality Commission review and revise, as necessary, the course requirements in the history-social science framework, as specified. Existing law requires the commission, whenever the history-social science framework is revised as required by law, to take specified actions relating to civics and history instruction, including ensuring that various historical documents are incorporated into the framework. This bill would instead require the commission to ensure that those historical documents are incorporated into the history-social science framework so that they are read by pupils. The bill would also include the Northwest Ordinance as one of those historical documents.
The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. This bill would additionally require a state agency to review and report on regulations that it adopts or amends on and after January 1, 2018, 5 years after adoption, as specified. The bill would require that the review and report include 10 specified factors, including a summary of the written criticisms of the regulation received by the agency within the immediately preceding 5 years and the estimated economic, small business, and consumer impact of the regulation. The bill would require the Office of Administrative Law to make the review and report available on the office's Internet Web site.
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires a local agency, as defined, to make public records available for inspection, subject to certain exceptions. In addition to maintaining public records for public inspection during the office hours of the public agency, existing law authorizes a public agency to make a public record available for inspection by posting it on its Internet Web site and, in response to a request for a public record posted on the Internet Web site, directing a member of the public to the location on the Internet Web site where the public record is posted. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to subsequently amend this bill to include provisions that would require the exploration and promotion of efficiencies and modernization in the storage of, and public access to, local government documents and recordings.
Existing law requires the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement Board to provide annual reports to the Legislature and the Governor with regard to investment returns on assets of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System, respectively. As part of these reports, the boards are required to calculate and report on the rate of return on investments based on different assumptions. This bill would require the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System to report a calculation of liabilities based on a discount rate equal to the yield on a 10-year United States Treasury note in the year prior to the report. The bill would require the Teachers' Retirement Board to provide a description of the discount rate the board uses for reporting liabilities calculations, a calculation of liabilities based on a discount rate that is 2% below the long-term rate of return assumed by the board, and a calculation of liabilities based on a discount rate equal to the yield on a 10-year United States Treasury note in the year prior to the report. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the Regents of the University of California provide written notice to the Legislature of any proposed changes to retirement plan benefits, employer or employee contribution rates, or actuarial assumptions affecting the University of California Retirement System, as specified. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the Regents of the University of California provide an annual written report to the Legislature regarding annual return on investments for the University of California Retirement System for the past 20 years and certain information regarding the rate of return of the system by asset type, as specified.
In a fiscal year immediately after a fiscal year in which a transfer is made into the Public School System Stabilization Account, existing law prohibits a school district's adopted or revised budget from containing a combined assigned or unassigned ending fund balance that is in excess of either 2 or 3 times the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties adopted by the State Board of Education, depending on the school district's units of average daily attendance. Existing law authorizes the county superintendent of schools to waive the prohibition, pursuant to specified conditions, for up to 2 consecutive fiscal years within a 3-year period if the school district provides documentation indicating that extraordinary fiscal circumstances substantiate the need for the balance. This bill would repeal those provisions.
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various exclusions from gross income, and allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to the taxes imposed by that law, including miscellaneous itemized deductions that are allowed only to the extent that the aggregate amount of those deductions exceeds 2% of adjusted gross income. This bill, upon appropriation of specified funds by the Legislature, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2019, would allow a deduction, not to exceed specified amounts, of the amount a qualified taxpayer, as defined, contributed in any taxable year to a homeownership savings account and would exclude from gross income any income earned on the moneys contributed to a homeownership savings account. The bill would provide that a qualified taxpayer may withdraw amounts from a homeownership savings account to pay for qualified homeownership savings expenses, defined as expenses paid or incurred in connection with the purchase of a principal residence in this state. The bill would provide that any amount withdrawn from that account that is not used for these expenses would be included as income for that taxpayer. The bill would define various terms for its purposes. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law requires the state to have the primary financial responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state responsibility areas, as defined. Existing law requires that a fire prevention fee be charged on each habitable structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, collected annually by the State Board of Equalization, in accordance with specified procedures, and specifies that the annual fee shall be due and payable 30 days from the date of assessment by the state board. Existing law authorizes a petition for redetermination of the fee to be filed within 30 days after service of a notice of determination, as specified. This bill would extend the time when the fire prevention fee is due and payable from 30 to 60 days from the date of assessment by the State Board of Equalization and would authorize the petition for redetermination to be filed within 60 days after service of the notice of determination, as specified. The bill would establish the Fire Prevention Fee Amnesty Program. The bill would require the State Board of Equalization to develop and administer the amnesty program for a person subject to the fees described above. The bill would require the program to be conducted for a 6-month time period, as provided, and would apply to fire prevention fee liabilities due and payable for the fee reporting periods beginning before March 1, 2018. The bill would require the program to apply to a person who meets specified requirements, including the filing of a completed amnesty application under penalty of perjury. By requiring the application to be completed under penalty of perjury, the bill would create a crime, and thus impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the state board to waive all penalties and interest for the specified fee reporting period for which the fire prevention fee amnesty is allowed for the nonpayment or underpayment of fee liabilities for a person who meets the above requirements. The bill would require the state board to adequately publicize the program so as to maximize public awareness of and participation in the 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.
(1) Existing property tax law provides, pursuant to the authority of a specified provision of the California Constitution, for a homeowners' exemption in the amount of $7,000 of the full value of a "dwelling," as defined, and authorizes the Legislature to increase this exemption. This bill, beginning with the lien date for the 2018–19 fiscal year, contingent upon a specified appropriation, would increase the homeowners' exemption from $7,000 to $25,000 of the full value of a dwelling. This bill would also require, for the 2019–20 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, the county assessor to adjust the amount of the homeowners' exemption by the percentage change in the House Price Index for California for the first 3 quarters of the prior calendar year, as specified. (2) The California Constitution requires the Legislature, whenever it increases the homeowners' property tax exemption, to provide a comparable increase in benefits to qualified renters. The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000 or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. This bill, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2018, contingent upon a specified appropriation, would increase this credit for a qualified renter to $428 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less, as adjusted for inflation, and to an amount equal to $214 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000 or less, as adjusted for inflation. The bill would also require, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation, based upon the California Consumer Price Index, the amount of these credits. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the renters' credit. (3) Existing law requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies under those provisions for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. (4) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law prohibits a person from applying for, voting for or attempting to vote, a vote by mail ballot by fraudulently signing the name of a fictitious person, or of a regularly qualified voter, or of a person who is not qualified to vote. Existing law provides that a person who violates the prohibition is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for 16 months or 2 or 3 years, by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would increase the maximum fine amount from $1,000 to $10,000.