Sen. Carol Liu

This measure would declare November 2010 to be California Adoption Month.

Under existing law, any person who receives an overpayment of unemployment compensation benefits is liable for the amount overpaid. Existing law also permits the Director of Employment Development to take specified steps to recover overpayment of unemployment compensation benefits and unemployment compensation disability benefits, including filing a civil action against the liable person within one year after certain actions have been taken. Existing law also permits the director to initiate summary judgment proceedings against a liable person to recover overpayment of unemployment compensation benefits due to fraud, misrepresentation, or willful nondisclosure on the part of the recipient. This bill would require the Director of Employment Development to find an overpayment of unemployment benefits where the individual who received them was an elected official whose claim was based solely on income received as an elected official. This bill would permit the director, in addition to filing a civil action against the liable person for the overpayment amount, to initiate summary judgment proceedings against such a person to recover these overpayment amounts, as provided. Existing law requires every employer, with specified exceptions, to pay contributions to the Unemployment Fund at specified rates, for the purpose of funding unemployment insurance benefits for eligible unemployed workers. Existing law defines "employment" for those purposes and, with respect to certain public entities, exempts from that definition certain services performed by an individual in the exercise of his or her duties as an elected official. This bill would require the Employment Development Department, by July 1, 2011, to adopt regulations to clarify that the above-described provision governing eligibility for unemployment compensation excludes elected officials from coverage under the unemployment insurance compensation system for purposes of benefit eligibility. The bill would also require the department to revise language in a specified California employment guide with regard to the exclusion of elected officials from unemployment insurance coverage and benefit eligibility, as specified.

This measure would proclaim April 12 through April 18, 2010, as California Holocaust Memorial Week and would urge Californians to observe these days of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust in an appropriate manner.

This measure would recognize September 2010 as Pain Awareness Month and call upon all Californians to observe that month by learning how to improve the quality of life of Californians suffering from pain. This measure would also recognize September 17, 2010, as Women In Pain Awareness Day to draw public attention to the gender disparity in pain assessment and treatment in the United States.

(1) Existing law requires an operator of a store, as defined, to establish an at-store recycling program that provides to customers the opportunity to return clean plastic carryout bags to that store. This requirement is repealed on January 1, 2013. Existing law prohibits a city, county, or other local public agency from taking specified regulatory actions with regard to the recycling of plastic carryout bags. This bill would repeal those at-store recycling program requirements on January 1, 2012, and would repeal, on January 1, 2011, the provision preempting local regulatory action. The bill would, as of January 1, 2012, prohibit stores that have a specified amount of sales or retail floor space from providing a single-use carryout bag to a customer. The bill would require these stores, from January 1, 2012, until June 30, 2013, to provide a specified type of reusable bag and after July 1, 2013, to only provide reusable bags that meet certain criteria. The bill would require these stores to make reusable bags available for purchase. The bill would allow a store, on and after January 1, 2013, to provide reusable bags to customers at no cost only when combined with a time limited store promotional program. The bill also would authorize a store, as of January 1, 2011, to provide recycled paper bags, but would require the store to charge the consumer, on and after January 1, 2012, the actual average cost of the recycled paper bag. The bill would require these stores, on and after January 1, 2012, to provide a plastic collection bin for its customers, for the purpose of collecting and recycling single-use plastic bags and reusable bags. The bill would, on and after July 1, 2013, additionally impose these prohibitions and requirements on convenience food stores, foodmarts, and certain other specified stores. The bill would, beginning January 1, 2013, require a reusable grocery bag producer to submit to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery a biennial certification, including a certification fee established by the department, that certifies that each type of reusable grocery bag that is imported, manufactured, sold or distributed in the state and provided to a store for sale or distribution meets specified requirements. The bill would require the department to deposit the certification fees into the Reusable Bag Account, which would be established by the bill in the Integrated Waste Management Fund. The bill would require that moneys in the account be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement the certification requirements. A violation of these certification requirements would be subject to an administrative civil penalty assessed by the department. The department would be required to deposit these penalties into the Penalty Subaccount, which the bill would create in the Reusable Bag Account, for expenditure by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement the certification requirements. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2015, to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the implementation of the bill's provisions. The bill would repeal this report requirement on January 1, 2016. This bill would, as of January 1, 2011, preempt local regulations on the use and sales of reusable bags, single-use carryout bags, recycled paper bags, or other specified bags at stores, as defined. The bill would allow a city, county, city and county or the state to impose civil penalties for a violation of the bill's requirements, except for the certification requirements. The bill would require these civil penalties to be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought the action, and would allow the penalties collected by the Attorney General to be expended by the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce the bill's provisions. (2) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 creates the Recycling Market Development Revolving Loan Subaccount in the Integrated Waste Management Account and continuously appropriates the funds deposited in the subaccount to the department for making loans for the purposes of the Recycling Market Development Revolving Loan Program. Existing law makes the provisions regarding the loan program, the creation of the subaccount, and expenditures therefrom inoperative on July 1, 2011, and repeals them as of January 1, 2012. This bill would appropriate $2,000,000 from the Recycling Market Development Revolving Loan Subaccount in the Integrated Waste Management Account to the department for the purposes of providing loans and grants for the creation and retention of jobs and economic activity in the manufacture and recycling of plastic bags that use recycled content.

Existing law prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of certain toys and child care articles, as defined, if those products contain specified types of phthalates in concentrations exceeding 110 of 1%. Existing law also requires manufacturers to use the least toxic alternative when replacing phthalates in their products and would prohibit manufacturers from replacing phthalates with certain carcinogens and reproductive toxicants. The bill would enact the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act, which would, except as specified, prohibit, on and after January 1, 2012, the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any bottle, cup, or liquid, food, or beverage in a can, jar, or plastic bottle that contains bisphenol A, or that is lined with a material that contains bisphenolA, at a level above 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) . It would also, except as specified, prohibit, on and after July 1, 2012, the manufacture, sale, or distribution of liquid infant formula in a can or plastic bottle containing bisphenolA or lined with a material containing it. The bill would also require manufacturers to use the least toxic alternative when replacing bisphenolA in containers in accordance with this bill. This bill would repeal these provisions if the Department of Toxic Substances Control adopts a specified regulatory response.

This measure would have the Legislature join the Congress of the United States in further acknowledging the service of Filipino World War II veterans in the Armed Forces of the United States by recognizing that these veterans should be reunited with their children during their golden years, and would request that the President and the Congress of the United States pass S. 1337 and H.R. 2412, which would exempt children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitations on immigrant visas, thus allowing for family reunification.

(1) Existing law provides that if any provision of a memorandum of understanding reached between the state employer and a recognized employee organization representing state civil service employees requires the expenditure of funds, those provisions of the memorandum of understanding shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. This bill would approve provisions that require the expenditure of funds for memoranda of understanding entered into between the state employer and State Bargaining Units 5, 12, and 18 and would provide that the provisions of any memorandum of understanding that require the expenditure of funds shall become effective even if the provisions of the memorandum of understanding are approved by the Legislature in legislation other than the annual Budget Act. The bill would provide that provisions of the memoranda of understanding approved by this bill that require the expenditure of funds will not take effect unless funds for these provisions are specifically appropriated by the Legislature, and would authorize the state employer and the affected employee organizations to reopen negotiations on all or part of the memorandum of understanding if the memorandum of understanding that requires the expenditure of funds is not approved by the Legislature. This bill would, with respect to salaries that are continuously appropriated prior to the enactment of the annual Budget Act, require the Director of Finance to reduce the necessary items for the payment of salaries from specified funds scheduled in that Budget Act to reflect the salaries paid prior to the enactment of the annual Budget Act. (2) Existing law establishes an alternate retirement program and provides that state employees, as defined, who become new members of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) during their first 24 months of employment, do not make contributions to the system or receive service credit for their service, and the state employer shall not make contributions on their behalf. These members are instead required to contribute either 5% or 6% of their monthly compensation, as specified, to the alternate retirement program, administered by the Department of Personnel Administration, and these contributions cease when the state employees begin making their own contributions to PERS. This bill would require all state employees participating in the alternate retirement system to contribute an amount equal to the same amount that employees in the same employment classifications in the same state bargaining units are required to contribute to PERS. (3) The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) provides a comprehensive set of rights and benefits based upon age, service credit, and final compensation. Existing law defines final compensation variously for different member classifications and bargaining units and, in this regard, defines final compensation for a state member for the purpose of calculating retirement benefits as the highest annual average compensation earnable by the member during a designated 12-month or 36-month period, depending upon the bargaining unit and classification of that employee. Currently the final compensation for members hired on or after July 1, 2006, who are represented by State Bargaining Units 12, 16, 18, and 19, means the final compensation earnable by the member during a designated 36-month period. This bill would provide that final compensation for a person who becomes a state member, as specified, on or after October 31, 2010, and who is represented by State Bargaining Units 5 and 8, means the highest annual average compensation earnable by the member during a designated 36-month period. (4) PERL provides that the contribution rate for state miscellaneous members and specified state safety members is 5% or 6% of the compensation in excess of $513. Existing law provides that the contribution rate for specified state firefighters is 8% of compensation in excess of $238 per month. Existing law provides that the contribution rate for specified state safety patrol members is 8% of the compensation in excess of $863 per month. This bill would increase the contribution rates by 5% for state miscellaneous members of State Bargaining Units 5, 8, 12, 16, 18, and 19 and state safety members of State Bargaining Units 12, 16, 18, and 19, and by 2% for state firefighter members of State Bargaining Unit 8 and state patrol members of State Bargaining Unit 5. By increasing member contributions into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (5) PERL establishes various retirement formulas that apply to specified membership categories. Under PERL, state miscellaneous members are generally subject to a retirement formula commonly known as 2% at 55, which, if the member retires at 55 years of age, yields a benefit equal to 2% of the member's final compensation multiplied by the member's years of service credit, as specified. Under PERL, patrol members and specified state peace officer/firefighter members are generally subject to a 3% at 50 retirement formula. Under PERL, state safety members are generally subject to a 2.5% at 55 retirement formula. This bill would provide that state miscellaneous members who are first employed on and after the date the act takes effect, are subject to a 2% at 60 retirement formula. The bill would also provide that patrol members and firefighter members in State Bargaining Units 5 and 8 who are first employed on and after October 31, 2010, are subject to a 3% at 55 retirement formula. (6) The Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) , which is administered by the Board of Administration of PERS establishes percentages for levels of benefit coverage afforded under the approved health benefit plan in which the employee or annuitant is enrolled. Existing law provides that a represented state employee first hired on or after January 1, 1989, shall not be vested for the full employer contribution payable for annuitants unless he or she has 20 years of credited state service, as defined, at the time of retirement, as specified. This bill would, instead, provide that these benefits vest at 50% for state employees represented by State Bargaining Unit 12, who become members of the system on and after January 1, 2011, and would increase that percentage by 5% for each year of credited state service up to 100% after 25 years of credited state service. (7) The annual Budget Act appropriates specified amounts from the General Fund, unallocated special funds, and unallocated nongovernmental cost funds, for state employee compensation. This bill would, in the event that the annual Budget Act is not enacted prior to July 1 of each year covered by the memoranda of understanding for State Bargaining Units 5, 8, 12, 16, 18, and 19, provide for a continuous appropriation for the amount necessary for the payment of compensation and benefits to members of those bargaining units. (8) This bill would provide that its provisions would not become operative unless AB 1592 of the 2009–10 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2011. (9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to pass the International Violence Against Women Act, and establish the offices and policies therein.