The Personal Income Tax Law, beginning on or after January 1, 2015, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income tax credit against personal income tax, and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability, to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. The Personal Income Tax Law allows a refundable young child tax credit against the taxes imposed under that law, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, in an amount equal to $1,176 multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, not to exceed $1,000 per each qualified taxpayer per taxable year and requires amounts of this credit in excess of the qualified taxpayer's tax liability to be paid to the qualified taxpayer from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill, under the Personal Income Tax Law, would additionally allow a refundable child poverty tax credit against the taxes imposed under that law, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, in an amount equal to either (1) $2,940 multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor for qualified taxpayers, as defined, residing in a "Region 1" county on the last day of the taxable year, not to exceed $2,500 per each qualified taxpayer per taxable year, or (2) $2,353 multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor for qualified taxpayers, as defined, residing in a "Region 2" county on the last day of the taxable year, not to exceed $2,000 per each qualified taxpayer per taxable year, as specified. The bill would require amounts of this credit in excess of the qualified taxpayer's tax liability to be paid to the qualified taxpayer from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would specify that the credit is only operative for taxable years for which resources are authorized in the annual Budget Act for the Franchise Tax Board to oversee and audit returns associated with the earned income tax credit.
Sponsored bills
Existing law authorizes a school district or charter school to maintain a transitional kindergarten program. Existing law requires, in the 2014–15 school year and each school year thereafter, and as a condition of receipt of apportionments for pupils in a transitional kindergarten program, a child who will have their 5th birthday between September 2 and December 2 to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district or charter school. Existing law authorizes, for the 2015–16 school year, and each school year thereafter, a school district or charter school to admit a child to a transitional kindergarten program who will have their 5th birthday after December 2 but during that same school year, as provided. Existing law prohibits a pupil admitted to a transitional kindergarten who has their birthday after December 2 from generating average daily attendance or being included in the enrollment or unduplicated pupil count until the pupil has attained their 5th birthday, as provided. This bill would delete the provision that prohibits a pupil admitted to a transitional kindergarten who has their birthday after December 2 from generating average daily attendance or being included in the enrollment or unduplicated pupil count, as provided.
Existing law requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among youth in California by setting specific, measurable goals aimed at preventing and ending homelessness among youth in the state and defining outcome measures and gathering data related to the goals. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing federal law authorizes, at the option of the state, preventive services, as defined, to be provided by practitioners other than physicians or other licensed practitioners. This bill would require the department to establish, commencing July 1, 2021, a full-spectrum doula care pilot program to operate for 3 years for pregnant and postpartum Medi-Cal beneficiaries residing in 14 counties, including the Counties of Alameda, Sacramento, San Diego, and Solano, that experience the highest burden of birth disparities in the state, and would provide that any Medi-Cal beneficiary who is pregnant as of July 1, 2021, and residing in a pilot program county, is entitled to doula care. The bill would require the department to develop multiple payment and billing options for doula care, and to ensure specified payment and billing practices, including that any doula and community-based doula group participating in the pilot program be guaranteed payment within 30 days of submitting any claim for reimbursement. The bill would require the department to establish a centralized registry listing any doula who is available to take on new clients in each county participating in the pilot program, and would provide several requirements for the registry, such as the information on the registry being accessible by various means, including the internet website. The bill would require each Medi-Cal managed care health plan in any county participating in the pilot program to provide information in its materials, and specified notices, on identified topics related to doula care, including reproductive and sexual health, and to inform pregnant and postpartum enrollees at prenatal and postpartum appointments about doula care, such as the availability of doula care and how to obtain a doula. The bill would require the department to convene a doula advisory board that would be responsible for deciding on a list of core competencies, such as the capacity to employ different strategies for providing emotional support, education, and resources during the perinatal period, required for doulas who are authorized by the department to be reimbursed under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require a doula to provide documentation that they have met the core competencies specified by the board as a prerequisite to be reimbursed under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the department to work with outside entities, such as foundations, to make trainings available at no cost that meet the core competencies to people who are from communities experiencing the highest burden of birth disparities in the state. The bill would require the department to allocate funding and resources for data collection, reporting, and analysis for purposes of conducting an evaluation of the pilot program, to ensure that an evaluation of the pilot program begins no later than July 1, 2023, and that it be completed by January 1, 2024, to submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, and to include the board and relevant stakeholders, including practicing doulas, in the department's evaluation design. The bill would authorize the department to consider the feasibility of a statewide doula benefit for Medi-Cal beneficiaries during the perinatal period if, after the first 3 years of the pilot program, the pilot program is achieving improved birth outcomes for people using doulas and their babies, and to terminate the pilot program if the pilot program is not achieving those outcomes during that period. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026.
This measure would proclaim January 23, 2020, as Maternal Health Awareness Day, to draw attention to the efforts that have improved maternal health in California and to highlight the need for continued improvement of maternal health for all women.
Existing law governs the bidding and awarding of public contracts by various state agencies. Existing law imposes requirements on contractors awarded various public contracts, including, among others, certifying that no equipment, materials, supplies, apparel, garments, or accessories provided under specified contracts are produced by sweatshop labor, forced labor, convict labor, indentured labor under penal sanction, abusive forms of child labor, or exploitation of children in sweatshop labor. This bill would establish the California Deforestation-Free Procurement Act. The bill would require a contractor, as defined, and specified subcontractors, for any contract entered into, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2023, contracting with a state agency for the procurement of products comprised wholly or in part of forest-risk commodities to certify that the commodities were not grown, derived, harvested, reared, or produced on land where tropical deforestation occurred on or after January 1, 2021. The bill would exempt a credit card purchase of goods of $2,500 or less, not to exceed a total of $7,500 of goods per contractor per year, from these certification requirements. The bill would require specified contractors to have a No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation policy, as specified, and would require the contractors to make the policy and corresponding data publicly available. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2022, the Department of General Services to issue an informational notice or memorandum on a Deforestation-Free Code of Conduct to be used by contractors that includes, among other things, a list of forest-risk commodities subject to these provisions. This bill would impose sanctions on contractors who knew or should have known that a product furnished to the state was comprised wholly or in part of a forest-risk commodity in violation of these provisions. The bill would specify that any person who certifies as true any material matter that the person knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The State Contract Act governs the bidding and award of public works contracts by specific state agencies and requires an awarding department, before entering into any contract for a project, to prepare full, complete, and accurate plans, specifications, and estimates of cost. The act prohibits, except in specified circumstances, a state agency responsible for letting public works contracts from drafting bid specifications in a manner that limits the bidding to any one concern or product, except under certain circumstances. This bill would prohibit a state agency from including in bid specifications for public works projects any wood or wood products whose importation and use are prohibited under the federal Lacey Act. 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 designate the month of January 2020 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month in California.
This measure, among other things, would declare that California is a Reproductive Freedom State for All and provide that the Legislature is committed to guaranteeing the constitutionally protected right to an abortion and supporting efforts to increase access to the best available reproductive and pregnancy-related care for women and pregnant individuals.
This measure would proclaim January 13, 2020, as Korean American Day.