The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee unless those records are exempt from disclosure. This bill would require specified entities to comply with the act, but would not require these entities to disclose information obtained in the process of soliciting potential donors that has actual or potential independent economic value because it is not generally known to the public or because the individuals can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use. This bill would specify that it is not the intent of the Legislature to designate specified organizations as state agencies by subjecting these organizations to the requirements of the act. The bill would exempt from disclosure under the act the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of persons who volunteer services or donate to specified entities if those persons request anonymity. However, the bill would provide that this exemption does not apply if a volunteer or donor meets specified conditions. This bill would also provide that it is the intent of the Legislature to reject the court's interpretation of state law regarding the application of the act to auxiliary organizations, such as the CSU Fresno Association, at issue in California State University, Fresno Assn., Inc. v. Superior Court (2001) 90 Cal.App.4th 810.
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Under existing law, it is against public policy for an employer and a prospective employee to enter into an agreement whereby either or both of them promise to join, or not to join, or remain a member of, a labor or an employer organization or to withdraw from an employment relation should one party or the other join or remain a member of a labor or employer organization. Existing law also grants state employees the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on matters of employer-employee relations and provides that once an employee organization is recognized as the exclusive representative of an appropriate bargaining unit, it may enter into an agreement with the state employer to provide for organizational security in the form of maintenance of membership or fair share fee deduction. This bill would prohibit a person from requiring an employee, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, to contribute financial support to a labor organization or financially support a charity or other organization sponsored by, or at the behest of, a labor organization. This bill would permit an employee or potential employee to seek injunctive relief or monetary damages, or both, for violations or threatened violations of these provisions. This bill would exempt employees covered by federal law from these provisions. Because this bill would create a new crime, or expand the definition of a crime, it would create 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) The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. An agency that is considering adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation is authorized to consult with interested persons before initiating regulatory action, and requires an agency to do so when the regulation involves complex or numerous proposals. This bill would require the agency, if it does not, or is unable to, consult with these parties to inform in writing the Office of Small Business Advocate and the Department of Finance of its decision and the reasons for not consulting the impacted businesses. (2) The act requires every state agency subject to the act to submit, with the notice of the proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation, an initial statement of reasons for proposing the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation, which is required to include, among other things, a description of any reasonable alternatives that would lessen any adverse impact on small business and the agency's reasons for rejecting those reasonable alternatives. The act specifies the agency is not required, in this initial statement, to artificially construct alternatives, describe unreasonable alternatives, or justify why it has not described alternatives. This bill would require the agency to describe the agency's reasons for rejecting each specific alternative, and would delete the specification that an agency is not required to artificially construct alternatives, describe unreasonable alternatives, or justify why it has not described alternatives. (3) The act requires a state agency to assess the potential of a proposal to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation to adversely affect business enterprises and individuals. This bill would also require an agency to submit an economic impact statement that makes that assessment and would also require an agency, before submitting a proposal, to prepare a small business economic impact statement that contains specified information. (4) Under the act, the agency must issue a notice of proposed action that includes prescribed information, including, if a state agency makes an initial determination that the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation will not have a significant statewide adverse economic impact directly affecting business, a declaration of that determination. This bill would delete that requirement and instead require, if an agency declares that it is not aware of any cost impact, that the notice of proposed action include a statement describing how a private person or business could comply with the proposed regulation without incurring a cost. This bill would also require that the notice of proposed action include the small business economic impact statement that this bill requires an agency to prepare. (5) The act also requires the Department of Finance to adopt and update, as necessary, instructions for inclusion in the State Administrative Manual prescribing the methods that any agency is required to use in making the determinations relating to mandates on local agencies or school districts, as specified. This bill would also require the Department of Finance to adopt and update, as necessary, instructions prescribing the methods that any agency is required to use in making the determinations relating to significant, statewide adverse economic impacts directly affecting business, as specified. (6) The act requires the Office of Administrative Law to review and approve regulations that are adopted, amended, or repealed, using prescribed standards. The act requires that the office reject a proposed regulation in specified circumstances. This bill would require that the office reject a proposed regulation if the adopting agency does not provide specified information relating to the small business economic impact statement. (7) The act authorizes any interested person to obtain a judicial declaration as to the validity of specified regulations or orders of repeal, by bringing an action for declaratory relief in the superior court in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure. This bill would specify that an interested person includes, but is not limited to, a small business or an organization or trade association that represents small businesses and whose members are affected by the regulation. (8) The bill would also make conforming changes to the act.
This measure would recognize the importance of celebrating the birth and independence of Mexico and honoring and invigorating the spirit of friendship, understanding, and cooperation that characterizes the California-Mexico relationship.
The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. That law provides various exemptions from those taxes. The bill would partially exempt from those taxes, on or after January 1, 2011, the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of, tangible personal property purchased by a qualified person for use in the manufacturing process or for use in research and development, as specified or to maintain, repair, measure, or test that property. This bill would also partially exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and storage, use, or other consumption of, tangible personal property purchased for use by a contractor for specified purposes. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing law authorizes districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Exemptions from state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws. This bill would specify that this exemption does not apply to local sales and use taxes, transactions and use taxes, and specified state sales and use taxes imposed for the purpose of finding locally provided services. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to convene an independent technical panel to provide information to the department and the Legislature on new demand management measures, technologies, and approaches. "Demand management measures" means those water conservation measures, programs, and incentives that prevent the waste of water and promote the reasonable and efficient use and reuse of available supplies. Existing law requires urban water suppliers to prepare and adopt urban water management plans with specified components. This bill would require a retail urban water supplier, as defined, to develop and implement an urban water conservation plan, including prescribed components, or achieve high-efficiency water use, as defined. The bill would impose various requirements for the contents of these plans, and would require a retail urban water supplier to update its water conservation plan on a specified schedule. The retail urban water supplier or other specified entities acting on behalf of the retail urban water supplier, would be required to submit reports for purposes of determining progress towards achieving a prescribed water conservation goal. The bill would require specified competitive grant and loan programs to provide financial incentives to retail urban water suppliers to support water use efficiency and local water resources management measures. The bill also would require the board and the department, not later than April 1, 2010, to convene a task force to develop best management practices for commercial, industrial, and institutional water uses for the purpose of achieving a specified reduction in water use by 2020. (2) The Agricultural Water Management Planning Act, until January 1, 1993, and thereafter only as specified, requires certain agricultural water suppliers to prepare and adopt water management plans. This bill would substantially revise the act to require an agricultural water supplier, as defined, to prepare and adopt an agricultural water management plan with specified components on or before December 31, 2012, and update that plan every 5 years, as specified. An entity, as defined, that becomes an agricultural water supplier after December 31, 2012, would be required to prepare and adopt an agricultural water management plan within 2 years after becoming an agricultural water supplier. The bill would require an agricultural water supplier to submit copies of the plan, or provide a specified written notice, to the department and other specified entities. The bill would provide that an agricultural water supplier is ineligible to receive specified state funds if the supplier does not prepare, adopt, and submit the plan in accordance with the requirements established by the bill.
This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to consider the removal of commercial, economic, and financial restrictions relating to agricultural sales to Cuba.
Under existing law, businesses are required to obtain various licenses from regulatory agencies. Existing law also requires state agencies to take specified actions, including, but not limited to, designating a small business liaison to assist small businesses to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements. This bill would create the Business Master License Center, which would have prescribed duties, including, but not limited to, developing and administering a computerized one-stop master license system capable of storing, retrieving, and exchanging license information, as well as issuing and renewing master licenses, as specified. The bill would permit the Governor to appoint a 3rd-party facilitator from the business community, to provide oversight over the creation of the center and the development of its master license system. This bill would charge license applicants, in addition to any other fees or deposits required to obtain a particular license, a master license administrative fee in specified amounts, to be deposited into the Business Master License Fund, which this bill would create. This bill would require that the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used only to administer the Business Master License Center.
The State Assistance for Fire Equipment Act authorizes the Secretary of Emergency Management to acquire specified firefighting apparatus and equipment for resale to a local agency, as defined, that provides fire suppression services or a fire company. Existing law also establishes the State Assistance for Fire Equipment Account, a continuously appropriated fund, for purposes of the act. Existing law requires the secretary to consult with a specified committee before adopting regulations implementing the act. This bill would annually appropriate $45,600,000 of revenue received by the state from the accessing of oil and gas reserves located beneath state coastal waters, generally known as the "T-Ridge Project," for firefighting purposes, including, but not limited to, the purchase of firefighting and rescue vehicles and equipment, vegetation management and defensible space projects, and specified training courses and materials, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would also require the secretary to consult with additional specified individuals involved in firefighting before adopting certain regulations.
The California Constitution generally limits ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property. For purposes of this limitation, "full cash value" is defined as the assessor's valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill under "full cash value" or, thereafter, the appraised value of that real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred. The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to provide that a severely disabled person and a person over 55 years of age may transfer the base year value, as defined, of property that is eligible for the homeowners' property tax exemption to a replacement dwelling that is of equal or lesser value located within the same county as the property from which the base year value is transferred and the replacement dwelling is purchased or newly constructed within 2 years of the sale of the original property, subject to certain conditions. This measure would extend the period of time during which a severely disabled person or a person over 55 years of age has to purchase or construct a replacement dwelling from 2 years to 3 years of the sale of the original property. This measure would also authorize the Legislature to provide for the transfer of base year value to a replacement dwelling that is of greater value, and would require the base year value of the replacement dwelling to be calculated by adding the difference between the full cash value of the original property and the full cash value of the replacement dwelling to the base year value of the original property.