Sen. Mike Morrell

Under existing law, an obligation is a legal duty to do or not to do a certain thing and an obligation may be extinguished in various ways. An obligation is extinguished if a creditor releases a debtor from the obligation either upon new consideration or in writing, with or without new consideration. Under existing law, a general release from an obligation does not apply to claims that the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor, as specified, and that would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor. This bill would clarify that the terms "creditor" and "debtor" as used in the above provisions include "releasing party" and "released party," respectively. This bill would state that its changes are declaratory of existing law.

The Professional Engineers Act and the Professional Land Surveyors' Act provide for the licensure and regulation of engineers and land surveyors by the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists. The Architects Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of architects by the California Architects Board. The Uniform Partnership Act of 1994 authorizes the formation of registered limited liability partnerships and foreign limited liability partnerships, as specified. Existing law authorizes persons licensed to engage in the practice of engineering, land surveying, or architecture to form registered limited liability partnerships and foreign limited liability partnerships if specified conditions are met. Existing law requires those partnerships to provide security of no less than $2,000,000 for claims arising out of the partnership's professional practice. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2019. This bill would extend, until January 1, 2026, the authorization for persons licensed to engage in the practice of engineering, land surveying, or architecture to form limited liability partnerships, as specified.

Existing state law regulates reverse mortgages and defines a reverse mortgage to mean a nonrecourse loan secured by real property if the loan provides cash advances to a borrower based on the equity or the value in a borrower's owner-occupied principal residence, the loan requires no payment of principal or interest until the entire loan becomes due and payable, and the loan is made by a specified licensed or chartered lender. Existing law prohibits a mortgage servicer, upon notification that a borrower has died by a person claiming to be a successor in interest, from recording a notice of default until the mortgage servicer gives an opportunity for the claimant to show that he or she is a successor in interest, as specified. Existing law requires a mortgage servicer, within 10 days of a claimant being deemed a successor in interest, to provide the successor in interest with information about the loan, as specified. Existing law also requires a mortgage servicer to allow a successor in interest to assume the deceased borrower's loan or to apply for foreclosure prevention alternatives on an assumable loan, as specified. Existing law provides other protections for these successors in interest and deems a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, or beneficiary of the deed of trust, or an agent thereof, to be in compliance with the above-described provisions if they comply with specified federal laws. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on January 1, 2020. This bill would make those provisions inapplicable to reverse mortgages, as defined, and would delete certain obsolete references.

Existing law requires a creditor to make certain disclosures to a consumer applying for a home equity loan, as defined. Under existing law, upon receipt of a specified written request from a borrower, the lender must suspend the borrower's equity line of credit for a minimum of 30 days. Upon receipt of both that request and a specified payment, existing law requires a lender to close the borrower's equity line of credit and release or reconvey the property secured by the line of credit, as specified. Existing law provides for the repeal of these equity line of credit suspension and closure provisions on July 1, 2019. This bill would extend the operation of those provisions indefinitely.

Existing law, the Barbering and Cosmetology Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of barbering and cosmetology, which include, among other things, shampooing, arranging, dressing, curling, waving, and applying hair tonics to, the hair of any person, by the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. The act specifies that the practice of cosmetology also includes the practice of cleansing or beautifying the hair of any person and that the practice of barbering also includes the practice of hairstyling all textures of hair by standard methods that are current at the time of the hairstyling. The act makes it unlawful for any person to engage in barbering or cosmetology for compensation or to operate an establishment where barbering or cosmetology is practiced, without a license, and specifies that a violation of this requirement is subject to an administrative fine and may be subject to a misdemeanor. The act also makes it a misdemeanor, punishable as prescribed, for any person, firm, association or corporation to violate the act if no specific penalty is otherwise provided. This bill would remove the practices of shampooing, arranging, dressing, curling, and waving the hair of any person from the practice of barbering and cosmetology. The bill would remove the practice of hairstyling of all textures of hair by standard methods that are current at the time of the hairstyling from the practice of barbering. The bill would also remove the practice of cleansing or beautifying the hair of any person from the practice of cosmetology. The bill would require a person who engages in practices of arranging, beautifying, cleansing, curling, dressing, shampooing, or waving the hair of any person at an establishment to provide notice to consumers of his or her licensure status. Because the bill would create a new 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 measure would proclaim the month of May 2018 as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month in California, and would encourage continued research in order to find treatments and eventually a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The Corporation Tax Law imposes taxes measured by income at a rate of 8.84%, as specified. The Corporation Tax Law 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. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, would reduce the corporate tax rate to 6.84%. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the tax imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would allow a credit against that tax for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2018, in an amount equal to the amount donated to a qualified charitable organization, as defined, not to exceed a specified amount per taxable year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to post on a new page on its Internet Web site a list of the names of each qualified charitable organization. The bill would provide that these provisions are severable. The bill would also include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new income tax credit. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.