(1) The Water Measurement Law requires every water purveyor to require, as a condition of new water service on and after January 1, 1992, the installation of a water meter to measure water service. That law also requires urban water suppliers to install water meters on specified service connections, and to charge water users based on the actual volume of deliveries as measured by those water meters in accordance with a certain timetable. This bill would add to the Water Measurement Law the requirement that a water purveyor that provides water service to a newly constructed multiunit residential structure or newly constructed mixed-use residential and commercial structure that submits an application for a water connection after January 1, 2017, measure the quantity of water supplied to each individual dwelling unit as a condition of new water service and permit the measurement to be by individual water meters or submeters, as defined. The bill would require the owner of the structure to ensure that a submeter installed for these purposes complies with laws and regulations governing the approval of submeter types or the installation, maintenance, reading, billing, and testing of submeters, including, but not limited to, the California Plumbing Code. The bill would exempt certain structures from these requirements. The bill would prohibit a water purveyor from imposing an additional capacity or connection fee or charge for a submeter that is installed by the owner, or his or her agent. The bill would provide that these provisions shall become operative on January 1, 2017. (2) The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission for approval and adoption. Existing law creates the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund and requires that funds deposited into the fund be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to carry out specified provisions of law that relate to building standards, with emphasis placed on certain activities relating to green building standards. This bill would permit the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop and propose for adoption by the commission building standards that require the installation of water submeters in multiunit residential buildings, as specified. This bill would provide that moneys in the fund are available to the department, upon appropriation, for administrative costs associated with the development of building standards that require the installation of water submeters in multiunit residential buildings. (3) Existing law generally regulates the hiring of dwelling units and, among other things, imposes certain requirements on landlords and tenants. Among these requirements, existing law requires landlords to provide tenants with certain notices or disclosures pertaining to, among other things, pest control and gas meters. This bill would, if the installation of a meter or submeter, was required by specified law, or a submeter is used to charge a tenant separately for water service, impose requirements on landlords relating to submetered water service to individual dwelling units. The bill would require a landlord to install and operate submeters in prescribed dwelling units, as specified. The bill would require a landlord to make certain disclosures to the tenant prior to the execution of the rental agreement, if the landlord intends to charge a tenant separately from rent for water service in a property with submeters. The bill would specify that as part of the monthly bill for water service a landlord may only bill a tenant for volumetric water usage, as specified, a portion of any recurring fixed charge billed to the property by the water purveyor, as specified, a billing, administrative, or other fee, as prescribed, and a late charge. The bill would specify that payments are required to be due at the same point in each billing cycle, as prescribed, and that each bill must include and separately set forth certain information. The bill would prohibit a landlord from charging certain additional fees. The bill would require a landlord to maintain and make available in writing to a tenant, as specified, the date the submeter was last inspected, tested, and verified, the data used to calculate the tenant's bill, and the location of the submeter. The bill would require a landlord to investigate and, if warranted, rectify certain problems or a submeter reading that indicates constant or abnormal water usage. The bill would permit a landlord to enter a unit for specified purposes relating to a submeter or water fixture if certain requirements are met. The bill would permit a tenant to be charged late fees, as specified. The bill would provide that these provisions shall become operative on January 1, 2017.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures and imposing other reporting and recordkeeping requirements on campaign committees. Existing law additionally imposes disclosure statement requirements with respect to advertisements supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure paid for by donors making contributions of specified amounts or by independent expenditures and defines several terms and phrases for these purposes. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would repeal and recast several definitions. The bill would modify a committee identification requirement and a disclosure statement requirement relating to advertisements for or against any ballot measure paid for by a committee. The bill would impose new disclosure statement requirements for political advertisements regarding a ballot measure that are radio advertisements, prerecorded telephonic messages, television or video advertisements, or mass mailing or print advertisements that would require the identification of identifiable contributors, ballot measures, and other funding details, as specified. By introducing new disclosure requirements, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor, the bill would create a new crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. Existing law creates the Fair Political Practices Commission, and gives it primary responsibility for the impartial, effective administration and implementation of the Political Reform Act of 1974. The bill would require the Fair Political Practices Commission to promulgate regulations related to identifying and reporting persons who are the original sources of funds transferred through committees or other persons to determine identifiable contributors by January 1, 2016. The bill would require the Commission to promulgate regulations prohibiting a recipient of funds transferred by an identifiable contributor from depositing the funds until required applicable reports have been received by the recipient. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 84511 of the Government Code proposed by A.B. 510, that would become operative only if A.B. 510 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2015, and this bill is chaptered last. 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Existing law prohibits, with some exceptions, the manufacture, packing, or holding of processed food without a valid registration from the State Department of Public Health. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2016, exempt from the registration requirements the milling, packaging, and selling of grain produced and sold at a water-driven grist mill on the National Register of Historic Places, provided best management practices suitable for a historic water-driven grist mill are followed for the processing and handling of the product, the flour is identified as being produced in a historic mill using traditional methods, and the product meets applicable federal food adulteration purity standards. Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, provides for the regulation of health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities, as defined, by the department and is primarily enforced by local health agencies. A violation of any provision of the code is a misdemeanor. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2016, exclude from the definition of a retail food facility a water-driven grist mill that is on the National Register of Historic Places and that has onsite sales of grain that is milled at the facility. The bill would make related findings, declarations, and statements of legislative intent. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 1990 and SB 1235, to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2015, and this bill is chaptered last.
Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for administering various programs and services for the benefit of veterans. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop outcome and related indicators for veterans, for the purpose of assessing the status of veterans in California, for monitoring the quality of programs intended to serve those veterans, and to guide decisionmaking on how to improve those services. This bill would require the department to report to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Veterans Affairs all of the outcome and related indicators developed by the department, recommendations on ways to establish a system for monitoring those indicators on a continual basis, and any regulatory or fiscal barriers that may hinder future progress on the development of a monitoring system, as provided. Under existing law, the information obtained in the administration of the Unemployment Insurance Law is for the exclusive use and information of the Director of Employment Development in the discharge of his or her duties and is not open to the public. However, existing law requires the director to permit the use of specified information for specified purposes, and allows the director to require reimbursement for direct costs incurred. Existing law provides that a person who knowingly accesses, uses, or discloses this confidential information without authorization is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the Director of Employment Development to permit the receipt of specified information to enable the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop outcome and related indicators for veterans. By providing this information to the Department of Veterans Affairs, this bill would expand the crime related to the unauthorized disclosure of this information, and 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 authorizes various local government entities, subject to certain limitations and approval requirements, to levy a transactions and use tax for specific purposes in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Transactions and Use Tax Law, including the requirement that the combined rate of all taxes that may be imposed under that law in the county may not exceed 2%. This bill would authorize the County of Sonoma and any city within the county to impose a transactions and use tax for general purposes, and the county and any city or special district within the county to impose a transactions and use tax for a specific purpose or purposes, which may include the support of transportation and road maintenance programs and library services, that would, in combination with other specified taxes, exceed the combined rate limit by 0.75%, if certain requirements are met. These provisions would be repealed by their own terms on January 1, 2022, if the ordinance is not approved, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Sonoma.
(1) Existing law creates the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $11,140,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a safe drinking water and water supply reliability program. Existing law provides for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election. This bill would repeal these provisions. (2) Under existing law, various measures have been approved by the voters to provide funds for water supply and protection facilities and programs. This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality, and Water Supply Act of 2014, which, if adopted by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $7,500,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a safe drinking water, water quality, and water supply program. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election. (3) Existing law, the Water Conservation and Water Quality Bond Law of 1986, approved by the voters at the June 3, 1986, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $150,000,000 for the Department of Water Resources to make prescribed loans to local agencies for the purposes of financing a water conservation and water quality program. Existing law, the Water Conservation Bond Law of 1988, approved by the voters at the November 8, 1988, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $60,000,000 for the Department of Water Resources to make prescribed loans to local agencies for the purposes of financing a water conservation program. Existing law, the Safe, Clean, Reliable Water Supply Act, a bond act approved by the voters as Proposition 204 at the November 5, 1996, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $995,000,000 for grants, loans, and direct expenditures for the purposes of financing a safe, clean, reliable water supply program. Existing law, the Costa-Machado Water Act of 2000, a bond act approved by the voters as Proposition 13 at the March 7, 2000, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $1,970,000,000 for grants, loans, and direct expenditures for the purposes of financing a safe drinking water, clean water, watershed protection, and flood protection program. This bill would authorize the Legislature to appropriate any unencumbered proceeds of bonds from the above-described bond acts in their respective bond funds as of November 5, 2014, for prescribed purposes as described in the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality, and Water Supply Act of 2014. This bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) The Water Measurement Law requires every water purveyor to require, as a condition of new water service on and after January 1, 1992, the installation of a water meter to measure water service. That law also requires urban water suppliers to install water meters on specified service connections, and to charge water users based on the actual volume of deliveries as measured by those water meters in accordance with a certain timetable. This bill would require a water purveyor that provides water service to a newly constructed multiunit residential structure or newly constructed mixed-use residential and commercial structure that submits an application for a water connection after January 1, 2015, to require measurement of the quantity of water supplied to each individual dwelling unit and to permit the measurement to be by individual water meters or submeters, as defined. The bill would require the owner of the structure to ensure that a water submeter installed for these purposes complies with laws and regulations governing approval of submeter types or the installation, maintenance, reading, billing, and testing of submeters, including, but not limited to, the California Plumbing Code. The bill would exempt certain structures from these requirements. The bill would prohibit a water purveyor from imposing an additional capacity or connection fee or charge for a submeter that is installed by the owner, or his or her agent. The bill would provide that these provisions shall become operative on January 1, 2015. (2) Existing law generally regulates the hiring of dwelling units and, among other things, imposes certain requirements on landlords and tenants. Among these requirements, existing law requires landlords to provide tenants with certain notices or disclosures pertaining to, among other things, pest control and gas meters. This bill would, if a water purveyor requires the installation of a meter or submeter, as specified, or a submeter has been installed, impose further requirements on landlords, relating to submetered water service to individual dwelling units. The bill would require a landlord to install and operate submeters in prescribed dwelling units, as specified. The bill would require a landlord to make certain disclosures to the tenant prior to the execution of the rental agreement, if the landlord intends to charge a tenant separately from rent for water service in a property with submeters. The bill would specify that as part of the monthly bill for water service a landlord may only bill a tenant for volumetric water usage, as specified, a portion of any recurring fixed charge billed to the property by the water purveyor, as specified, a billing, administrative, or other fee, as prescribed, and a late charge. The bill would specify that payments are required to be due at the same point in each billing cycle, as prescribed, and that each bill must include and separately set forth certain information. The bill would prohibit a landlord from charging certain additional fees. The bill would require a landlord to maintain and make available in writing the date the submeter was last inspected, tested, and verified and the data used to calculate the tenant's bill to a tenant upon the tenant's written or electronic request, as specified. The bill would require a landlord to investigate, and if warranted, rectify, a condition that indicates that water is being distributed to the tenant not at his or her direction, as specified. The bill would permit a landlord to enter a unit for specified purposes relating to a submeter or water fixture provided that certain requirements are met. The bill would permit the assessment of late fees, as specified. The bill would provide that these provisions shall become operative on January 1, 2015. In addition to actual damages, this bill would permit a tenant to recover from the landlord certain damages, costs, and fees for a violation of these provisions. The bill would authorize a city, county, city and county, or district to enforce these provisions.
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.
Existing law, in the case of specified violations relating to rules of the road and driving under the influence, doubles the fine in the case of misdemeanors, and increases the fine, as specified, in the case of infractions, if the violation is committed by the driver of a vehicle within a highway construction or maintenance area during any time when traffic is regulated or restricted by the Department of Transportation or local authorities pursuant to existing law or is committed within a designated Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zone. This bill would also require that an additional fine of $35 be imposed if the violation occurred when passing a school building or school grounds, as specified, and the highway is posted with a standard "SCHOOL" warning sign and an accompanying sign notifying motorists that increased penalties apply for traffic violations that are committed within that school zone. The bill would require that these additional fines be deposited in the State Transportation Fund for purposes of funding school zone safety projects within the Active Transportation Program.
Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to make or cause to be made investigations and gather or cause to be gathered data as needed for a proper review and study of the various features of the design and construction of dams, reservoirs, and appurtenances. This bill would require the department, in collaboration with specified entities, to make or cause to be made investigations and to gather or cause to be gathered data for a proper review and study of the loss of storage capacity behind dams resulting from sedimentation and would authorize the department to limit the study to certain reservoirs. The bill would require results of the study to be reflected in the quinquennial update of The California Water Plan and be provided to the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and the Assembly. The bill would require the department to identify high-priority reservoirs for additional evaluation, for which the department would be required to evaluate and characterize the sediment for mercury and sediment size and to identify and evaluate cost-effective strategies for sediment removal, relative to the costs of alternative methods of flood protection and water supply. Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to update The California Water Plan, which is a plan for the conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, every 5 years. Existing law requires the department, as part of the update, to conduct a study to determine the amount of water needed to meet the state's future needs. The department is required, one year prior to issuing each update to the California Water Plan, to release a draft of assumptions and estimates upon which the study will be based. Existing law prescribes a list of subjects for which the department is required to release those assumptions and estimates. This bill would add estimated loss of storage capacity behind dams resulting from sedimentation to that list.