This measure would recognize May 2011 as Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.
This measure would declare June 2011 as Scleroderma Awareness Month.
This measure would declare June 26, 2011, a Day in Support of Victims of Torture in California, and would urge the Office of Refugee Resettlement to direct torture treatment funding through the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 so as to reflect California's role as the nation's largest resettlement destination for torture survivors.
(1) Existing law provides that when developing and adopting objective evaluation and assessment guidelines for certificated employees, a school district may, by mutual agreement between the exclusive representative of the certificated employees of the school district and the governing board of the school district, include certain standards. This bill would encourage these evaluation and assessment guidelines to include specific information relating to current best teaching practices in all subject areas, as well as information relating to objectively training evaluators on current best teaching practices in all subject areas. (2) Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to evaluate and assess the performance of certificated employees as it reasonably relates to the progress of pupils towards the standards of expected pupil achievement established by the governing board, the instructional techniques and strategies used by the employee, the employee's adherence to curricular objectives, and the establishment of a suitable learning environment. This bill would authorize school districts to incorporate additional criteria into the evaluation of certificated employees, including: (A) pupil progress during a school year or, as applicable, during multiple school years, toward statewide academic content standards or common core academic standards in language arts and mathematics, comprising no more than 25% of the evaluation; and (B) pupil and parent or guardian input, comprising no more than 5% of the evaluation. The bill would authorize a school district, prior to issuing a final evaluation, to conduct multiple observations by trained evaluators and peers with the opportunity for constructive feedback and professional development.
This measure would designate the month of May 2011 as Foster Care Month in California.
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. That law authorizes the department to enter into 5-year contracts with regional centers, subject to an annual appropriation of funds by the Legislature. The act requires the contracts to specify that each regional center include annual performance objectives that will meet certain standards and allows the department to specify additional areas of support that require development or enhancement. The act requires corrective action if a regional center fails to meet the performance standards. This bill would authorize the department to specify additional areas of support requiring development or enhancement, as specified. This bill would require the department to develop processes and procedures, as specified, to address issues of retaliation against regional center employees and vendors and would require those processes and procedures to be included in the regional center standard agreement contracts. This bill would require a regional center to report annually to the department the total number of complaints it has received within a fiscal year and would require the department to report the information to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would require the department, in addition to all other audits and reviews, to conduct a review of each regional center's compliance with the procedures for developing individual program plans, as specified, and to utilize the results of the review to develop annual performance objectives. The bill would also, beginning July 1, 2013, require each regional center to post on its Internet Web site a directory of vendorized service providers, and negotiated rates, if applicable, and to update that list annually. The act provides that the regional centers purchase needed services for individuals with developmental disabilities through approved service providers that are identified through a process of vendorization. The act requires services and supports of comparable quality that are offered at different costs by different providers to be assessed and the lower cost provider used unless specified determinations are made. This bill would require the determination of comparability to be made by the program planning team and to include specified criteria.
This measure would urge state and local governments and community organizations to promote education and awareness of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits that help working families persevere through difficult economic times.
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, and prohibits these entities from imposing an ad valorem tax on real property or a transactions or sales tax on the sale of real property. This measure would alternatively condition the imposition, extension, or increase of a parcel tax, as defined, by a school district, community college district, or county office of education upon the approval of 55% of its voters voting on the proposition, if the proposition meets specified requirements. This measure would also make conforming changes to related provisions.
This measure would designate the week of April 18 to 24, 2011, as "California Week of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923," and would memorialize the Congress and the President of the United States to observe the California Week of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide by participating in the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Project.
(1) Existing state and federal law regulate the terms and conditions of mortgages and deeds of trust secured by real property. Existing state law requires, upon a breach of the obligation of a mortgage or deed of trust secured by real property, that the trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary record a notice of default in the office of the county recorder where the mortgaged or trust property is situated and mail the notice of default to the mortgagor or trustor, among other acts, prior to exercising a power of sale. Existing state law, until January 1, 2013, prohibits the filing of a notice of default on a mortgage or deed of trust, as specified, secured by owner-occupied real property, as defined, until 30 days after specified parties contact the borrower or 30 days after satisfying due diligence requirements in this regard. This bill would prohibit a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent from recording a notice of default unless that party makes reasonable and good faith efforts to evaluate the borrower for all available loss mitigation options to avoid foreclosure. The bill would prohibit a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent from recording a notice of default on residential mortgages and deeds of trust, as defined, until various notice requirements and other requirements regarding loan modifications are fulfilled. The bill would include among these requirements informing the borrower of the deadline for applying for a loan modification, which would be prohibited from being earlier than a specified date. The bill would prohibit a mortgagee, trustee, or beneficiary from recording a notice of default on a residential mortgage or deed of trust if a borrower who is eligible for a loan modification submits an application, as specified, unless the mortgagee, trustee, or beneficiary has, in good faith, reviewed the application, rendered a decision on the application, and sent the borrower a denial explanation letter. The bill would provide a process for reviewing a mortgage loan modification application, which would depend, in part, on whether the mortgage servicer, as defined, is participating in the federal Making Home Affordable Modification Program. The bill would except certain borrowers from these requirements. The bill would require that a borrower who requests a loan modification and is denied receive a denial explanation letter stating the reason or reasons for the denial, as specified. The bill would require a mortgage servicer to whom the provisions described above apply, to perform specified actions as part of foreclosing on a residential mortgage or deed of trust, including compiling a record documenting compliance with those provisions, which would be signed, certified, and transmitted to the foreclosure trustee or authorized agent. The bill would require the declaration of compliance to be included or attached to every notice of default recorded, as specified, and a notice of default recorded without the compliance declaration would be void. The bill would prescribe a form for the declaration and would require that the declaration substantially comply with it. The bill would permit an eligible borrower to enjoin a trustee sale if provisions of the bill are not satisfied, and would authorize a borrower to recover damages, attorney's fees, and costs, as specified, if the property is sold without compliance with the bill's requirements. The bill would permit the Attorney General to enforce these provisions. The bill would also establish other penalties for certain acts, including for a false declaration of a lost note representing a mortgage or deed of trust. The bill would provide that any person licensed by the State of California who violates the bill's provisions is deemed to have violated the licensing law applicable to that person. Because the violation of certain licensing laws, including those regulating mortgage services, are punishable as crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also delete duplicative provisions of law. (2) 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.
