Sen. Richard Roth

The Small Business Procurement and Contract Act permits a state agency to award a contract for goods, services, or information technology with a value of between $5,000 and $250,000 to a certified small business, including a microbusiness, or to a disabled veteran business enterprise, without complying with specified competitive bidding requirements. This bill would increase the upper limit of the value of those contracts to $500,000.

The California Finance Lenders Law and the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act define a "mortgage loan originator" as an individual who, for compensation or gain, or in the expectation of compensation or gain, takes a residential mortgage loan application or offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan. The acts except certain individuals from the definition of mortgage loan originator. Existing law requires that mortgage loan originators be licensed and fulfill certain educational and other requirements. This bill would except from the definition of mortgage loan originator an individual who originates 5 or fewer residential mortgage loans secured by a manufactured home or mobilehome, as defined, in any 12-consecutive-month period.

Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide various benefits to veterans. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a California Veterans Leadership Program to connect returning veterans of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with employment, housing, and mental health resources and tools, as specified.

The Medi-Cal Act establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would instead require that, to the extent permitted by federal law, this payment reduction not apply to skilled nursing facilities or subacute care units that are a distinct part of a general acute care hospital, intermediate care or other specified facilities serving developmentally disabled individuals, or specified Medi-Cal provider payments for fee-for-service benefits, including payments to pharmacies, for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011. The bill would also provide that this payment reduction shall not apply to managed health care plans for dates of service after the effective date of the bill. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Municipal Water District Law of 1911 provides for the formation of municipal water districts and grants to those districts specified powers. Existing law permits a district to acquire, control, distribute, store, spread, sink, treat, purify, recycle, recapture, and salvage any water for the beneficial use of the district, its inhabitants, or the owners of rights to water in the district. Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, provides for the operation of public water systems, and imposes on the State Department of Public Health various responsibilities and duties. Existing law requires the department to conduct research, studies, and demonstration projects relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, to adopt regulations to implement the California Safe Drinking Water Act, and to enforce provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. This bill would exempt the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and the Eastern Municipal Water District from liability for claims by past or existing County Water Company of Riverside customers or those consuming water provided through the County Water Company of Riverside water system concerning the operation and supply of water from the County Water Company of Riverside water system during the interim operation period, as specified, for any good faith, reasonable effort using ordinary care to assume possession of, and to operate and supply water to, the County Water Company of Riverside water system. This bill would provide that immunity from liability exists for all future claims by County Water Company of Riverside customers that will be served by Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and Eastern Municipal Water District after the termination of the interim operation period associated with those portions of the County Water Company of Riverside water system that are retained by the municipal water districts as part of the permanent replacement facilities, as specified. This bill would prohibit the immunity from liability from being construed either to relieve the municipal water districts from drinking water quality compliance obligations, as specified, or to extend to claims alleging the taking of property without compensation. This bill would require the interim operation period to last until permanent replacement facilities are accepted by the municipal water districts with the concurrence of the department, or December 31, 2015, whichever occurs first. This bill would require the department to extend the interim operation period for up to one year at the request of the municipal water districts, as prescribed. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law creates the California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord Endowment Fund (Endowment Fund) in the State Treasury, and requires moneys in the Endowment Fund to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the annual administrative and oversight costs of the veterans cemetery, as specified, and to generate funding through interest for the veterans cemetery. Existing law requires moneys in the Endowment Fund to be invested to generate ongoing earnings to cover the estimated annual oversight and maintenance costs associated with the veterans cemetery, as provided. This bill would instead require any moneys to be allocated to the department for the nonreimbursable costs of design and construction and the annual operations and maintenance costs of the veterans cemetery for the next 10 years. This bill would allow, but not require, moneys in the fund to be invested to generate ongoing earnings to offset the estimated annual operations and maintenance costs associated with the veterans cemetery. Existing law requires the department to develop and submit a State Veterans Cemetery Grant Program application to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for the establishment of a veterans cemetery upon the Controller's determination that the Endowment Fund has adequate principal to yield sufficient investment earnings in each year for the next 10 years, from the date of the determination, to fully fund the respective year's administrative and oversight costs, and to fund the estimated costs of developing and submitting the application, as specified. This bill would instead require the department to develop and submit an application upon the Controller's determination that the Endowment Fund has adequate amounts, in addition to funding the estimated costs of developing and submitting the application, to fully fund the nonreimbursable costs of design and construction and the operations and maintenance costs for the next 10 years. This bill would require the Controller to consider the estimated revenues from specified fees expected to be deposited into the Endowment Fund in making this determination. This bill would allow any moneys, if awarded, received from the State Veterans Cemetery Grant Program to be used to reimburse the Endowment Fund for specified allowable costs as established by that program. Existing law authorizes the Director of Finance to transfer up to $1,500,000 as a loan from the General Fund to the Endowment Fund, and requires the loan to be repaid with interest, as provided. This bill would repeal that authorization, and instead make an appropriation of $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the Endowment Fund for the construction of the California Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord. This bill would require any amounts transferred by the Director of Finance as a loan from the General Fund to the Endowment Fund to be returned to the General Fund. This bill would make technical, conforming changes to change the references to "administrative and oversight" to "operations and maintenance." This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008, as approved by the voters, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $900,000,000, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, for purposes of financing the Cal-Vet program for farm, home, and mobilehome purchase assistance for veterans. This bill would amend the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008 to reduce the amount of bonds that are authorized to be issued under the act from $900,000,000 to $300,000,000. The bill would enact the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (the bond act) to authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600,000,000, as specified, for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide multifamily housing to veterans pursuant to the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 (VHHPA) , also enacted by the bill. The bill would authorize the Legislature to amend the provisions of the bond act, by majority vote, for specified purposes. The bill would impose a specified reporting requirement on the Department of Housing and Community Development to evaluate, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, any program established by the former pursuant to the VHHPA. The bill would authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide specified assistance to veterans. The bill would provide for submission of a specified section to the voters at the June 3, 2014, statewide primary election, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, regulates conflicts of interests of public officials and requires that public officials file, with specified filing officers, periodic statements of economic interests disclosing certain information regarding income, investments, and other financial data. Existing law authorizes agencies to permit the electronic filing of statements of economic interests, in accordance with regulations adopted by the Fair Political Practices Commission. This bill would authorize the Commission to develop and operate an online system for filing statements of economic interests meeting specified requirements. With certain exceptions, filers would be authorized to use the online system to meet requirements imposed by the act. (2) 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. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law prohibits a shelled egg from being sold or contracted for sale for human consumption in California if it is the product of an egg-laying hen that was confined on a farm or place that is not in compliance with animal care standards. Violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would instead prohibit a shelled egg from being sold or contracted for sale for human consumption in California if the seller knows or should have known that the egg is the product of an egg-laying hen that was confined on a farm or place that is not in compliance with animal care standards.

The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act provides for the creation and regulation of common interest developments, as defined, but exempts common interest developments that are limited to industrial or commercial uses from specified provisions of the act. This bill would establish the Commercial and Industrial Common Interest Development Act, which would provide for the creation and regulation of commercial and industrial common interest developments. The bill would make various conforming changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1633.3 of the Civil Code proposed by SB 251 that would become operative if this bill and SB 251 are both chaptered and this bill is chaptered last.