Sen. Lois Wolk

Existing law imposes various taxes and allows specified credits, deductions, exclusions, and exemptions in computing those taxes. This bill would require any bill, introduced on or after January 1, 2012, that would authorize a personal income or corporation tax credit to contain, among other provisions, (1) specified goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, (2) detailed performance indicators to measure whether the tax credit is meeting those goals, purposes, and objectives, and (3) a requirement that the tax credit cease to be operative no later than 10 taxable years after its effective date, as specified.

The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state in the amount of 1% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided, for a specified amount of time. Existing law also, until June 30, 2011, imposes an additional tax equal to 0.15% of the market value of specified vehicles, as determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, to the vehicle license fee, to be deposited in the General Fund and transferred to the Local Safety and Protection Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would repeal the provision relating to the sunset date and repeal of the additional 0.15% tax, thereby depositing additional moneys into a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing property tax law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally requires that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that jurisdiction's portion of the annual tax increment, as defined. Existing property tax law also reduces the amounts of ad valorem property tax revenue that would otherwise be annually allocated to the county, cities, and special districts pursuant to these general allocation requirements by requiring, for purposes of determining property tax revenue allocations in each county for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 fiscal years, that the amounts of property tax revenue deemed allocated in the prior fiscal year to the county, cities, and special districts be reduced in accordance with certain formulas. Under these provisions for the 1992–93 fiscal year, the formula for special districts reduces the amounts of property tax revenue deemed allocated in the prior fiscal year to certain special districts by 35%, not to exceed 10% of a district's total annual revenues for the 1989–90 fiscal year, as reported in a specified publication of the Controller. Existing law requires the Director of Finance to ensure that the amount of these revenue reductions for all special districts equals $375,000,000 for the 1992–93 fiscal year. Existing law also requires that the revenues not allocated to the county, cities, and special districts as a result of these reductions be transferred to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) in that county for allocation to school districts, community college districts, and the county office of education. This bill would, for the 2011–12 fiscal year, decrease by $58,310 the total amount of property tax revenue deemed allocated to the Solano County ERAF for the Cordelia Fire Protection District for the prior fiscal year. This bill would also require that these allocation adjustments be incorporated into property tax revenue allocations for future fiscal years. This bill would also require the Director of Finance to ensure that this change does not result in an increase in the amount of a reduction under these provisions for any other special district. This bill would make findings and declarations regarding the necessity of a special statute. By changing the manner in which property tax revenues are allocated by county officials in the County of Solano, 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, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law provides that a prevailing party in a court action may be awarded attorney's fee under specified circumstances, and laws governing the administration of franchise and income tax laws provide that a prevailing party may be awarded a judgment for reasonable litigation costs incurred, in the case of any civil proceeding brought by or against the State of California in a court of record of this state, in connection with the determination, collection, or refund of any tax, interest, or penalty under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law as specified. This bill would make the provision of law governing the administration of franchise and income tax laws the exclusive means to award attorney's fees in any civil proceeding described above, and would prohibit attorney's fees from being awarded pursuant to any other statutory provision or common law doctrine regarding the award of attorney's fees. This bill also would prohibit a person from charging a contingent fee, as defined, for any matter involving a tax imposed under the Revenue and Taxation Code, and would impose a penalty, as provided, for failing to comply with this requirement. This bill would authorize specified state agencies to request a written certification from those persons, filed under penalty of perjury, that a fee charged for those services does not include a contingent fee. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the 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.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Water Commission in the Department of Water Resources and requires the commission to conduct an annual review of the progress and operation of the State Water Project and to carry out various other related functions. Existing law requires the members of the commission to select a chairperson, and authorizes the commission to employ an executive officer and other staff from the staff of the department. The commission is also authorized to employ clerical assistants. Existing law requires the department to furnish the commission with assistance, including technical, legal, and clerical services. This bill would provide for the organization of the commission as a separate agency in state government, instead of as an agency within the Department of Water Resources. The bill would recast and revise provisions relating to the commission's selection of a chairperson and executive officer employment of staff, and delegation of its functions. The bill would also enact the Water Resources Investment Planning Act, and would declare legislative intent relating to the establishment of regional water planning agencies and the development of the California Water Investment Plan. The bill would require the commission to administer the development and implementation of the California Water Investment Plan. (2) Existing law requires the department to update every 5 years the plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, which is known as the California Water Plan. Existing law prescribes various requirements for the contents of updates to the plan, and requires the department, or the commission at the department's request, to conduct hearings relative to the plan. This bill would instead require the commission to update the plan by an unspecified date, and every 5 years thereafter. The bill would require the plan to include reports developed by the department and regional water planning agencies established pursuant to the Water Resources Investment Planning Act. The bill would require the department and the regional agencies to submit those reports to the commission by an unspecified date, would prescribe the contents of the reports, and would require the department and regional agencies to collaborate and consult with specified agencies and entities for purposes of developing the reports. The bill would recast, and make conforming changes to, requirements for the contents of updates to the plan. The bill would also require the commission, instead of the department, to conduct hearings relative to the plan.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations, as defined. Existing law requires a telephone bill to only contain charges for products or services, the purchase of which the subscriber has authorized. Existing law establishes various requirements for billing telephone corporations. Pursuant to these requirements, the commission has adopted rules to specify the responsibilities and procedures that must be followed to address and report cramming-related issues. Cramming occurs when an unauthorized charge is placed on a subscriber's telephone bill. This bill, except for telephone corporations that either provide service only to business or wholesale customers or offer mobile telephony services through a prepaid or pay-in-advance method, would require that the reporting requirements and standards relative to cramming complaints be uniform for all billing telephone corporations, as defined. The bill would require that the commission annually report to the Legislature, on or before June 1 of each year, on any investigation commenced by the commission's consumer protection and safety division when the commission receives more than 100 complaints regarding unauthorized telephone charges in any 90-day period as to a person, corporation, or billing agent, as defined. The bill would require the commission to impose a civil penalty and order a billing telephone corporation to cease to provide billing services for a service provider, as defined, or billing agent whenever the incidence of meritorious subscriber complaints of unauthorized billings, as defined, exceeds 5% of the customer accounts that were billed on behalf of a service provider or billing agent. The bill would require a billing telephone corporation to notify its subscribers whenever this 5% meritorious complaint penalty and termination requirement is invoked, identifying the service provider or billing agent with a clear and informative description of the nature of the charges that were unauthorized, and would authorize any subscriber that made or makes a meritorious complaint with respect to that service provider or billing agent, to terminate without financial or other penalty, the remaining term of a service contract with the billing telephone corporation. The bill would require the commission to make certain information relative to cramming available to the public over the Internet and in bill inserts to be included with billings by billing telephone corporations. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill incorporate those criminal provisions of the act with respect to a telephone corporation and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. 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.

(1) Existing law provides for the Central Valley Flood Protection Board with the authority to construct and maintain various flood control works. Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources, by January 1, 2012, to prepare, and transmit to the board, the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, which is a systemwide plan for the protection of specified lands protected by the facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control. The board is required to adopt the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan by July 1, 2012. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those requirements. (2) Existing law requires each city and county within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley, within 24 months of the adoption of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, to amend its general plan to include specified data, policies, and implementation measures. The city or county is also required, within 36 months of the adoption of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, but not more than 12 months after the amendment of its general plan, to amend its zoning ordinance to be consistent with the general plan, as amended. After the general plan amendments and zoning ordinance amendments have become effective, the city or county, unless it makes specified findings, is prohibited from entering into a development agreement for property that is located within a flood hazard zone, is prohibited from approving specified permits that would result in specified construction located within a flood hazard zone, and is required to deny approval of a tentative map, or a parcel map for which a tentative map was not required, for a subdivision located within the flood hazard zone. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the specified findings that a city or county may make for those purposes.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. The state board is authorized to adopt market-based compliance mechanisms, as defined, meeting specified requirements to be used for compliance with those regulations. This bill would establish eligible uses of funds allocated to the agricultural sector from revenue generated from market-based compliance mechanisms for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases pursuant to the act. The bill would require an unspecified agency to administer these funds for a specified grant program. The bill would provide for the creation of the California Agricultural Climate Benefits Advisory Committee to assist in the implementation of these requirements, as provided.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency within state government, which oversees various health and human services programs, including mental health, substance abuse, adult protective services, and child welfare programs. This bill, the Health and Human Services System Improvement and Accountability Act of 2011, would require the agency to establish, by December 1, 2013, the California Health and Human Services Review System in order to periodically review specified health and human services programs administered by the state and local agencies, as specified. The bill would require the agency convene an advisory workgroup to design and draft a work plan to guide the agency in implementing the system. The bill would require the agency to report specified information to the Legislature. The bill would require the Secretary of California Health and Human Services to establish an information sharing plan to enable the exchange of information among state and local agencies to support the implementation of the California Health and Human Services Review System. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.