The Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibits sending mass mailings at public expense. The act defines "mass mailing" as over 200 substantially similar pieces of mail not including form letters or other mail that is sent in response to an unsolicited request, letter, or other inquiry. An existing regulation adopted by the Fair Political Practices Commission prescribes criteria for mass mailings that are prohibited by the act and for mass mailings that are permissible under the act. This bill would codify this regulation. The bill would additionally prohibit a mass mailing from being sent within the 60 days preceding an election by or on behalf of a candidate whose name will appear on the ballot, except as specified. A willful violation of the act's provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, 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 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 of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
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Existing law authorizes individuals to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds, including the Emergency Food Assistance Program Fund. Existing law also has general administrative provisions applicable to voluntary contributions. Existing law provides for any new or extended voluntary contribution fund, to include the words "voluntary tax contribution" in the name of the fund, require the administering agency to include specified information about the fund on its Internet Web site, continuously appropriate from the fund the contributions made to the administering agency, and set a minimum contribution amount for the continuation of any voluntary tax contribution on the tax return form and include a generally applicable repeal date for a voluntary tax contribution. Existing law requires that the Emergency Food Assistance Program Fund equal or exceed a minimum contribution amount, which initially was $250,000 and which was required to be and has been adjusted for inflation. This bill would change the name of the Emergency Food Assistance Program Fund to the Emergency Food for Families Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, would provide that the required calendar year minimum contribution amount for the fund to continue appearing on the return is an unadjusted $250,000, and would extend the provisions that apply to that voluntary contribution fund to January 1, 2026. The bill would make a continuous appropriation from the Emergency Food for Families Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for reimbursement of all costs incurred in the administration of these provisions and to the State Department of Social Services for allocation to the Emergency Food Assistance Program. The bill would also make additional changes to conform to the provisions described above.
Existing law provides, for many criminal offenses, 3 possible terms of punishment. Existing law authorizes a court, in sentencing a person convicted of such a crime, to select the appropriate term which, in its sound discretion, best serves the interests of justice. Existing law allows the court to consider, in choosing an appropriate punishment, the record of the case, specified reports received by the court, and specified statements in aggravation or mitigation. This bill would authorize the court to consider that a defendant convicted of a specified violent felony willfully recorded a video of the commission of the violent felony with the intent to encourage or facilitate the offense as a factor in aggravation in sentencing that defendant.
Existing law establishes a statewide system of courts with a superior court of one or more judges in each county. Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to prescribe the methods, means, and standards for electronic collection of data related to court administration, practice, and procedure. This bill would require the Judicial Council, if certain funding is provided, to report to the Legislature, on or before June 1, 2020, on a study of veterans and veterans treatment courts that includes a statewide assessment, as specified, of veterans treatment courts currently in operation and a survey of counties that do not operate veterans treatment courts that identifies barriers to program implementation and assesses the need for veterans treatment courts in those counties. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2021.
The Massage Therapy Act, until January 1, 2021, provides for the certification and regulation of massage therapists and massage practitioners by the California Massage Therapy Council, which is a nonprofit organization. Existing law requires applicants for certification as a massage therapist to complete certain educational requirements, including the curricula in massage and related subjects totaling a minimum of 500 hours. Existing law requires these 500 hours to be from an approved school, as defined. This bill would require the council, pursuant to its policies and procedures, to accept hours earned by an applicant for certification as a massage therapist if those hours were completed before July 1, 2016, and were earned from a school providing education in the state that was unapproved, as defined, by the council after July 1, 2016, based solely on the fact that the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork took denial or disciplinary action against the school.
This measure proclaims the month of October 2017 as Republic of Vietnam Month, in commemoration of the 61st anniversary of the adoption of the first Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam, in honor of the lives lost for freedom and democracy during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the positive contributions of Vietnamese Americans to the State of California.
This measure would proclaim the month of September 2017 as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month of 2017.
This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 405 in the County of Orange as the Lt. Colonel Nguyen Thi Hanh Nhon's Disabled Veterans Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost, to erect those signs.
This measure would recognize the 3rd week of September 2017 and the 3rd week of September every year thereafter, as Child Passenger Safety Week.
This measure would designate the month of September 2017 as Opioid, Heroin, Fentanyl, and Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month, as specified.