Existing law regulates investments made by public pension and retirement systems and defines the term "placement agent" to mean a person or entity hired, engaged, or retained by an external manager, as defined, to raise money or investment from a public retirement system in California. Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of the lobbying industry, including defining the term "lobbyist" and regulating the conduct of lobbyists. Among its provisions, the act requires lobbyists to register with the Secretary of State and to file periodic disclosure reports, and it prohibits lobbyists from engaging in certain activities, including accepting or agreeing to accept any payment in any way contingent upon the defeat, enactment, or outcome of any proposed legislative or administrative action, as defined. This bill would amend the existing definition of "placement agent" to mean a person, as defined, hired, engaged, or retained by, or serving for the benefit of or on behalf of, an external manager, as defined, to act as a finder, solicitor, marketer, consultant, broker, or other intermediary in connection with the offer or sale of the securities, assets, or services of an external manager to a public retirement system in California for compensation, and would exclude from that definition an employee, officer, director, equityholder, partner, member, or trustee of an external manager who spends 13 or more of his or her time, during a calendar year, managing the securities or assets owned, controlled, invested, or held by the external manager. The bill would define "placement agent" in a similar way for purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974, except that the definition would be limited to an individual acting in connection with the offer or sale of the securities, assets, or services of an external manager to a state public retirement system in California and would not include employees, officers, or directors of specified external managers or of affiliates of those external managers. In addition, the bill would prohibit a person from acting as a placement agent in connection with any potential system investment made by a state public retirement system unless that person is registered as a lobbyist and is in full compliance with the Political Reform Act of 1974 as that act applies to lobbyists. The bill would also require a person acting as a placement agent in connection with any potential system investment made by a local public retirement system to file any applicable reports with a local government agency that requires lobbyists to register and file reports and to comply with any applicable requirements imposed by a local government agency. The bill would provide that an individual acting as a placement agent is a lobbyist for purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 and is thereby required to comply with all regulations and restrictions imposed on lobbyists by the act, and the bill would further expand the definition of "administrative action" for purposes of the act to include, with regard only to placement agents, the decision by any state agency to enter into a contract to invest state public retirement system assets on behalf of a state public retirement system. The bill would specify that a placement agent who is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is permitted to receive a payment of fees for contractual services provided to an investment manager, except to the extent that payment of fees is prohibited by the proscription on contingency payments to placement agents. Additionally, the bill would require the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System to each provide to the Legislature, not later than August 1, 2012, a report on the use of placement agents in connection with investments made by those retirement systems. 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 impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides, for all contracts, and amendments to contracts, entered into on or after January 1, 2007, with a public agency for design professional services, all provisions, clauses, covenants, and agreements contained in, collateral to, or affecting these contracts, that purport to indemnify, including the cost to defend, the public agency by a design professional against liability for claims against the public agency, are unenforceable, except for claims that arise out of, pertain to, or relate to the negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct of the design professional. This bill would provide, with respect to contracts and amendments to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2011, with a public agency for design professional services, that all provisions, clauses, covenants, and agreements contained in, collateral to, or affecting these contracts or amendments to contracts that purport to require the design professional to defend the public agency under an indemnity agreement, including the duty and the cost to defend, are unenforceable, except for claims that arise out of, pertain to, or relate to the negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct of the design professional. The bill would provide that all contracts and all solicitation documents between a public agency and a design professional are deemed to incorporate these provisions by reference.
Existing law requires the collection of fees for issuing marriage licenses and for providing certified copies of vital records, including marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death records, and death records. Existing law provides for the establishment of county domestic violence program special funds for the purpose of funding local domestic violence programs. Certain fees payable at the time a marriage license or a certified copy of any of the above vital records is issued may be collected by the county clerks for deposit into these funds. Existing law, until January 1, 2011, additionally authorizes the Solano County Board of Supervisors, upon making certain findings and declarations, to authorize an increase in fees for marriage licenses and confidential marriage licenses and for certified copies of certain vital records, up to $2. Existing law authorizes the Solano County Board of Supervisors to make further increases in fees each year, as specified. Existing law requires the fees to be allocated for purposes relating to domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution. This bill would extend the operation of the above-described provisions until January 1, 2012.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Social Services of community care facilities, including facilities that provide care for children. Violation of the provisions relating to community care facilities is a misdemeanor. Existing law includes a crisis nursery, as defined, within the provisions regulating a community care facility. Existing law removes crisis nurseries from these provisions on July 1, 2011. Existing law provides for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which, pursuant to a combination of federal, state, and county funds, aid on behalf of eligible children is paid to foster care providers. Existing law includes a crisis nursery among the facilities eligible to receive reimbursement under the above program when a child is placed in such a facility. Existing law requires the department, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, to set a foster care rate for crisis nurseries. Existing law removes crisis nurseries from these provisions on July 1, 2011. This bill, as of January 1, 2011, would specify that voluntary placement in a crisis nursery does not include placement of a child who has been removed from the care and custody of his or her parent or legal guardian and placed in foster care. This bill, as of July 1, 2012, also would change the definition of crisis nursery for this purpose to include only facilities that accept voluntary placements, as defined, and not placements by county child welfare services. Commencing July 1, 2012, the bill would prohibit children placed in crisis nurseries from receiving AFDC-FC reimbursement. The bill would provide for the repeal of the definition described above as of January 1, 2014. This bill would extend the repeal date for provisions described above that relate to volunteers and that exempt the application of prescribed provisions to crisis nurseries until January 1, 2014. By extending inclusion of a crisis nursery in the definition of a community care facility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program, by extending the expansion of a crime. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to pay for a share of the cost of AFDC-FC payments. This bill would, instead, provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 11402 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 12, that would become operative only if AB 12 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, 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.
Existing law contains provisions relating to supervision of continuing care contracts, including requirements governing continuing care communities and contracts. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to regulate activity relating to continuing care contracts, and requires that continuing care retirement communities maintain an environment that enhances residents' independence and self-determination and in that regard imposes various requirements on a care provider. Existing law defines various terms for purposes of those contracts and requirements, and imposes specified civil and criminal penalties for violations of those provisions. This bill would define the term "residential temporary relocation" to mean the relocation of one or more residents, except in the case of a natural disaster that is out of the provider's control, from one or more residential living units, assisted living units, skilled nursing units, or a wing, floor, or entire continuing care retirement community building, due to a change of use or major repairs or renovations. The bill would limit residential temporary relocation to a period of at least 9 months but not to exceed 18 months without the written agreement of the resident. This bill would require continuing care contracts to state that the resident has a right to terminate his or her contract after 18 months of residential temporary relocation, as defined, and set forth provisions for refunds due to cancellation for this reason. This bill would require providers to include in resident contracts the procedures to be followed to ensure that residential temporary relocations provide comparable levels of care, service, and living accommodations. The bill would also specify procedures to be taken for residential temporary relocation, return to the unit vacated, and the extension of residential temporary relocation. Because this bill would change the definition of a crime, it 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.
Existing law, the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999, establishes the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund, continuously appropriated to the University of California, for the purpose of awarding grants to perform spinal cord injury research projects. The fund consists of moneys from private entities, as specified, as well as public moneys transferred to the fund. Existing law, with the approval of the Regents of the University of California, also creates a Spinal Cord Injury Research Program in the University of California to promote spinal cord injury research in California. The program and the fund are repealed as of January 1, 2011. This bill would eliminate the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund, and instead permit the University of California to establish a spinal cord injury research fund, independent of the State Treasury, to accept public and private funds for spinal cord injury research programs and grants, as prescribed. It would delete the repeal date of provisions relating to the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program thus indefinitely extending the duration of those provisions.
(1) Existing law requires specified authorized emergency vehicles owned and operated by a governmental agency that are first purchased on or after January 1, 1994, to meet certain size, weight, and load requirements, including the requirement that the manufacturer weigh and certify fire apparatus to determine compliance with weight requirements. Existing law defines a "fire apparatus" as, among other things, a vehicle designed, maintained, and used exclusively for the suppression of fires or for fire prevention activities, including the training of firefighters. This bill would instead define a "fire apparatus" as a vehicle designed, maintained, and used under emergency conditions to transport personnel and equipment, or for the suppression of fires or mitigation of other hazardous situations, consistent with the 2009 edition of Standard 1901 of the National Fire Protection Association. Existing law, beginning July 2, 2010, authorizes overweight firetrucks with tandem or tridem axles to receive transportation permits from various public entities to operate on public roads but requires the permit to limit tandem and tridem weights to no more than 15% over the weight allowed by law. A violation of the Vehicle Code is a crime. This bill would specify that, notwithstanding the weight exemption provided for under existing law, a fire apparatus vehicle is prohibited from towing or hauling any other vehicle or equipment while operating under an overweight permit. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to enter into 10-year contracts with owners of land devoted to agricultural use, whereby the owners agree to continue using the property for that purpose, and the city or county agrees to value the land accordingly for purposes of property taxation. Existing law sets forth procedures for reimbursing cities and counties for property tax revenues not received as a result of these contracts. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2011, and until January 1, 2015, authorize a county, in any fiscal year in which payments authorized for reimbursement to a county for lost revenue are less than 12 of the participating county's actual foregone general fund property tax revenue, to revise the term for new contracts and require the assessor to value the property, as specified, based on the new contract. The bill would provide that a landowner may choose to nonrenew and begin the cancellation process. The bill would also provide that any increased revenues generated by properties under a new contract shall be paid to the county.
The California Endangered Species Act, until January 1, 2011, exempts from its provisions the accidental take of candidate, threatened, or endangered species resulting from acts that occur on a farm or a ranch in the course of otherwise lawful routine and ongoing agricultural activities. The act requires the department, in cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture and other specified entities, to adopt regulations that authorize locally designed voluntary programs for routine and ongoing agricultural activities on farms or ranches that encourage habitat for candidate, threatened, and endangered species, and wildlife generally. The act authorizes specified entities to propose those programs to the department. This bill would extend that repeal date to January 1, 2014. The bill would authorize the department to approve applications submitted by nonprofit organizations to initiate and undertake public education and outreach activities that promote the achievement of the objectives of the act. The bill would require a participating organization to file an annual report with the department with specified information.
This measure would recognize March 31, 2010, as the anniversary of the birth of César Chávez, and would call upon all Californians to participate in appropriate observances to remember César Chávez as a symbol of hope and justice to all persons.