Under existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act is enacted for, among other purposes, the purpose of providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer all California state preschool programs. Existing law requires those programs to include, but not be limited to, part-day age and developmentally appropriate programs designed to facilitate the transition to kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-old children in educational development, health services, social services, nutritional services, parent education and parent participation, evaluation, and staff development. Existing law requires the Superintendent to develop standards for the implementation of quality programs with indicators of quality required to include certain things, including parent education. This bill would require the Superintendent to develop standards for the implementation of high-quality early learning and educational support programs. The bill would also include parent education and support and continuity of care and the assignment of primary caregivers for infants and toddlers, among other things, of quality indicators. Existing law requires specified state preschool programs to have at least 12 of the children enrolled at a preschool site to be 4-year-old children and requires certain priority requirements for the award of new funding for the expansion of the preschool program. This bill would delete these requirements. This bill would require the Superintendent to develop standards, rules, and regulations for the implementation of high-quality, evidenced-based infant and toddler services that would be required to, among other things, promote responsive caregiving by parents, guardians, and care providers. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or in any other statute, establish supplemental grants for purposes of funding parent training and voluntary home visitation services. Existing law authorizes a family enrolled in state or federally funded child care and development programs whose services would otherwise be terminated because the family no longer meets the program criteria to continue to receive child development services in another state or a federally funded child care and development program, as provided. This bill would require a child to be deemed eligible for the remainder of the program year subsequent to enrollment in a state or federally funded early learning and educational support program. Existing law defines "income eligible," for purposes of the act, to mean that a family's adjusted monthly income is at or below 70% of the state median income, adjusted for family size, and adjusted annually. This bill would also include in this definition a family that is eligible for Cal-Fresh or Medi-Cal. Existing law establishes staffing ratios for center-based programs. This bill would delete these ratios on July 1, 2019. The bill would require, no later than July 1, 2019, early learning and educational support program services providers to maintain updated staffing ratios, as provided. The bill would require no later than July 1, 2019, early learning and educational support program services providers to have at least one teacher in each classroom that holds at a minimum a child development teacher permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, if funds are made available for that purpose in the annual Budget Act or in any other statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or a county office of education to offer independent study to meet the educational needs of pupils in accordance with prescribed criteria. Existing law provides that a school district or county office of education is not eligible to receive apportionments for independent study pupils unless it has adopted and implemented certain policies, including, but not limited to, policies related to all of the following, among other things: the maximum length of time that may elapse between the time an independent study assignment is made and the date by which the pupil must complete the assigned work; the number of missed assignments that will be allowed before an evaluation is conducted to determine whether it is in the best interests of the pupil to remain in independent study; the manner, time, frequency, and place for submitting a pupil's assignments and for reporting his or her progress; the duration of the independent study agreement, which is limited to one semester or 12 year for a school on a year-round calendar; and the requirement of a written agreement, signed by prescribed individuals, for each independent study pupil to be maintained on file. This bill would extend the maximum duration of an independent study agreement under this provision to 2 semesters or one school year for a school on a year-round calendar. The bill would also permit the required signatures on the independent study written agreement to be submitted through a PDF or facsimile copy of the original written agreement.
Existing law generally requires that plaintiffs and defendants in small claims court actions represent themselves, but provides a number of exceptions to this requirement for specified businesses, plaintiffs who are in the military, and defendants who are nonresident owners of property, among others. This bill would create another exception to that rule by permitting a plaintiff in a small claims action to submit declarations to serve as evidence supporting his or her claim or allow another individual to appear and participate on his or her behalf, if the plaintiff is a senior citizen or dependent adult and appearing for a hearing would pose an undue hardship, as determined by the court, due to limited mobility or limited access to transportation.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including certain credits that are allowed in modified conformity to credits allowed by federal income tax laws. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2026, allow a credit based upon earned income that is equal to 15% of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to report to the Legislature regarding the utilization of the tax credit, as provided. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services is authorized to contract with regional centers to provide support and services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires a regional center to include specified information on its Internet Web site for the purpose of promoting transparency and access to public information that includes specified information. This bill would require that information to include specified information about payments to vendors and to nonprofit housing organizations.
Existing law, notwithstanding any other law, and commencing with the 2015–16 school year, authorizes a school district, charter school, or county office of education to provide independent study courses for pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in accordance with prescribed conditions. Existing law provides for the computation of the average daily attendance for pupils enrolled in courses offered pursuant to these provisions. This bill would revise the computation of the average daily attendance for those independent study courses by providing that, if more than 10% of the total average daily attendance of a school district, charter school, or county office of education is claimed pursuant to those courses, then the average daily attendance for pupils enrolled in the courses that is in excess of 10% of the school district's, charter school's, or county office of education's total average daily attendance shall be reduced, as specified. The bill also would make nonsubstantive changes.
Under existing law, a person who commits certain acts, including soliciting or, engaging in lewd or dissolute conduct in a public place, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. This bill would make a violation of that provision involving any adult who solicits a minor to engage in or who engages in lewd or dissolute conduct with a minor in a public place punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 90 days, except as specified. Existing law also provides that a person who solicits or agrees to engage in or who engages in any act of prostitution, as specified, is guilty of disorderly conduct. This bill would make a violation of that provision involving any adult who solicits or who agrees to engage in or who engages in an act of prostitution where the other party to the act is a minor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 90 days, except as specified. By expanding the definition of a crime, this 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.
Existing law establishes various social services programs that provide cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals, including the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Existing law requires applicants for, and recipients of, public social services for which state grants-in-aid are made to counties to accurately report facts material to eligibility and grant payment determinations. Existing law authorizes current and future grants payable to an assistance unit to be reduced because of prior overpayments, and requires grant payments to be reduced by 5% of the maximum aid payment when the overpayment was caused by agency error or 10% of the maximum aid payment when the overpayment was for any other reason. Existing law prohibits a county from attempting, if an individual is no longer receiving CalWORKs benefits, to recover overpayments when the outstanding overpayments are less than $35, and requires reasonable cost-effective efforts at collection to be implemented if the overpayment amounts owed are $35 or more. Under existing law, however, a county is prohibited from establishing a CalWORKs overpayment based on any differences between the amount of income the county prospectively determined for the recipient and the income the recipient actually received, if the recipient's report was complete and accurate. Existing law provides that no civil or criminal action may be commenced against a person based on alleged unlawful application for or receipt of public social services if the case record of the person has been destroyed after the required retention period. This bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to establish a minimum cost-effectiveness threshold, as specified, for collecting an overpayment established under CalWORKs that is greater than $125, and would require counties to implement the new threshold if one is established by the department pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require current and future grant payments be reduced by 5% of the monthly payment when the overpayment is because of agency error or 10% of the monthly payment when the overpayment was for any other reason. The bill would prohibit a county from establishing an overpayment if the costs of collecting the outstanding payments are expected to exceed the average amounts to be recovered by the county, or the amount of the overpayment is less than $125, or the minimum cost-effectiveness threshold, whichever is greater. The bill would prohibit a county from attempting to recover CalWORKs overpayments if an individual is no longer receiving CalWORKs benefits and the outstanding overpayments are less than $125, or the minimum cost-effectiveness threshold, whichever is greater. The bill would also prohibit a civil, administrative, or criminal action against a person based on alleged unlawful or erroneous application for or receipt of public social services if the case record of the person has been destroyed after the required retention period. The bill would require the department to issue an all-county letter or similar instructions by April 1, 2015, and to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of the bill by July 1, 2016. By increasing the duties of county agencies, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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 California Constitution conditions the imposition of a special tax by a city, county, or special district upon the approval of 23 of the voters of the city, county, or special district voting on that tax, except that certain school entities may levy an ad valorem property tax for specified purposes with the approval of 55% of the voters within the jurisdiction of these entities. This measure would provide that the imposition, extension, or increase of a special tax by a local government for the purpose of providing funding for local transportation projects requires the approval of 55% of its voters voting on the proposition, if the proposition proposing the tax includes certain requirements. This measure would prohibit a local government from expending any revenues derived from a special transportation tax approved by 55% of the voters at any time prior to the completion of a statutorily identified capital project funded by revenues derived from another special tax of the same local government that was approved by a 23 vote. The measure would also make conforming and technical, nonsubstantive changes.
This measure would urge the President and United States Senate to negotiate and ratify, respectively, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement with the European Union.