(1) Existing law permits any voter to apply for permanent vote by mail voter status if the voter completes an application containing the required information in accordance with specified statutory provisions and requires a voter to return a vote by mail ballot by mail or in person to the elections official from whom it came, or in person to any member of a precinct board at any polling place within the jurisdiction, before the close of the polls on election day. This bill would permit a voter to return a vote by mail ballot to any polling place in the state, and in the case of a vote by mail ballot returned to a precinct located in a county other than the county of the elections official who issued the ballot, would require the elections official of the precinct at which the ballot is returned to forward the ballot to the elections official who issued the ballot. By imposing additional duties on local elections officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The bill would also make a conforming change to a related provision. (3) 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.
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Existing law requires agents and insurers to fulfill certain requirements with regard to the replacement of existing life insurance policies and annuities. This bill would require insurers and insurance producers, as defined, to comply with specified requirements regarding the purchase, exchange, or replacement of an annuity recommended to a consumer, including, but not limited to, having reasonable grounds for the insurance producer believing the annuity transaction would be suitable for the consumer, as provided. The bill would also prohibit an insurance producer from selling annuities unless he or she has received Insurance Commissioner-approved training, and would authorize the commissioner to require certain actions by, and impose sanctions and penalties on, insurers and their agents for a violation of the bill's provisions. The bill would further provide that sales by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker-dealer that comply with the suitability and supervision system requirements of FINRA shall be deemed to satisfy the suitability and supervision system requirements of this bill, as specified.
Existing law grants to the State Air Resources Board the primary authority for the control of air pollution from vehicular sources. The state board tests and certifies new motor vehicle models for compliance with air pollution emissions standards developed by the state board. This bill would require the state board, within 30 working days after receipt of an application for certification of a new, a carryover, or a partial carryover on-road or off-road vehicle, engine, or equipment family, as defined, to inform the applicant, in writing, either that the application is complete and accepted for filing, or that the application is deficient, identifying the specific information required to make the application complete.
This measure would designate February 27, 2012, as California Day of Remembrance for the Massacres of Armenians in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku, and would call upon the people of California to use vigilance to promote greater tolerance in Azerbaijan and ensure the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict while protecting the security of the Armenians in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
(1) Existing law, for purposes of ethics training for officers and employees of a local government, defines the term ethics laws to include, among others, laws relating to government transparency. This bill would additionally define the term ethics laws to include compensation setting guidelines as established by specified organizations or the local agency. (2) Existing law requires local agency officials, as defined, to receive ethics training, if the local agency provides any type of compensation, salary, or stipend to a member of a legislative body, or provides reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred by a member of a legislative body in the performance of official duties. This bill would require the local agency to post the ethics training records of all elected members of the local agency on the local agency's Internet Web site, if any, and to submit a copy of the records to the Controller within 90 days of receiving the records. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law authorizes a local agency, as defined, to pay compensation to members of a legislative body for attendance at specified occurrences. Existing law authorizes a local agency to pay compensation for attendance at other occurrences if the governing body has adopted, in a public meeting, a written policy specifying other types of occasions that constitute the performance of official duties. Existing law authorizes a local agency to reimburse members of a legislative body for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties, if the governing body has adopted a written policy, in a public meeting, specifying the types of occurrences that qualify a member of the legislative body to receive reimbursement of specified actual and necessary expenses. This bill would require a local agency that has adopted a written attendance compensation policy or written reimbursement policy to post the policy on the local agency's Internet Web site, if any, and to submit a copy of the policy to the Controller. The bill would, if a local agency does not comply with these requirements, require the Controller to withhold any funds to which the local agency is otherwise entitled, as specified. (4) 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.
Existing law regulates fireworks and pyrotechnic displays and requires that a permit be obtained from the State Fire Marshal in certain instances. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared by contract, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. The California Coastal Act of 1976 provides for the planning and regulation of development, under a coastal development permit process, within the coastal zone. Existing law defines development for these purposes. This bill would exempt a municipal fireworks display, as defined, from the provisions of CEQA. Because a lead agency would have to determine the applicability of the exemption and to take certain specified action upon a determination of exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that a coastal development permit is not required for a municipal fireworks display and would specify that "development" does not include a municipal fireworks display. 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.
Existing law provides that, when a child is removed from his or her family by the juvenile court, placement of the child in foster care should secure, as nearly as possible, the custody, care, and discipline equivalent to that which should have been given the child by his or her parents. Existing law provides enumerated rights for children who are placed in foster care. Existing law establishes the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson to disseminate specified information, including the stated rights of foster youth, and to investigate and attempt to resolve complaints made by or on behalf of children placed in foster care, related to their care, placement, or services. This bill would enumerate rights for foster youth relating to mental health services. The bill would require the office, in consultation with various entities, to develop, no later than July 1, 2012, standardized information explaining the rights specified and to distribute this information to foster youth.
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 appropriate the sum of $7,300,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide for specified veterans' services.
(1) Existing law, the DNA Fingerprint, Unresolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act, an initiative measure, requires an additional penalty of one dollar for every $10 or part thereof to be levied in each county upon every fine, penalty, or forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for all criminal offenses, as specified. The act requires the county board of supervisors to establish in the county treasury a DNA Identification Fund, into which the collected penalties are to be deposited. The act requires 25% of the moneys in the county fund to be transferred to the state's DNA Identification Fund and specifies the purposes for which funds in the county's and the state's DNA Identification Funds may be used, including to reimburse local sheriff, police, district attorney, and regional state crime laboratories for expenditures and administrative costs made or incurred in connection with the processing, analysis, tracking, and storage of DNA crime scene samples, as specified. The act provides for its amendment by the Legislature if the amendments further the act and are consistent with its purpose to enhance the use of DNA identification evidence for the purpose of accurate and expeditious crime solving and exonerating the innocent. This bill would require, for the purposes of providing supplemental funding for the DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act, as specified, an additional penalty to be levied in an unspecified amount in each county for the late payment of any fine, penalty, or forfeiture imposed by the courts for any violation of the Vehicle Code, or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code, that is committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. Pursuant to the provisions described above, the penalty proceeds would be deposited into each county's and the state's DNA Identification Fund for the purposes specified above. The bill would declare that its provisions further the initiative act and are consistent with its purposes.
Existing law provides that interest is paid by taxpayers and feepayers with respect to underpayments of various taxes, surcharges, and fees at the modified adjusted rate, as defined by reference to a specified federal statute, as modified, plus 3 percentage points. This bill would delete the requirement to add 3 percentage points.