The Personal Income Tax Law provides, in modified conformity to federal income tax laws, for the manner in which taxable gains are to be recognized upon the disposition of property, including real property that is the principal residence of the taxpayer. Existing law allows an individual to exclude from his or her gross income up to $250,000 or $500,000, as specified, of gain realized on the sale or exchange of his or her residence if the taxpayer owned and occupied the residence as a principal residence for an aggregate period of at least 2 of the 5 years prior to the sale or exchange. This bill would revise the exclusion to provide that if the buyer of a qualified principal residence, as defined, is a qualified first-time homeowner, as defined, the amount of the exclusion is increased to $300,000 or $600,000, as specified. The bill would limit the increased exclusion amount to transactions in which, on or prior to the closing date of the sale or exchange of the qualified principal residence, the seller obtains a certification from the buyer in writing, signed under penalty of perjury, that the buyer is a qualified first-time homeowner and including specified information concerning the sale of the qualified principal residence. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, 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. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
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Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person engaged in labor picketing, or other informational activities in a public place relating to a concerted refusal to work, to carry a concealed firearm, loaded firearm, or deadly weapon. This bill would prohibit a person attending or participating in any demonstration or protest from carrying or possessing specified items, including, among other things, firearms, baseball bats, or lengths of wood or lumber exceeding specified dimensions. The bill would make a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, the bill 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.
This measure would encourage any individual taxpayer in California who disapproves of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to donate their tax savings to the State of California's General Fund, as specified.
Existing law authorizes an expert witness to testify in the form of an opinion, as specified, and to state on direct examination the reasons for the opinion and the matter upon which it is based, unless the witness is precluded by law from using those reasons or matter as a basis for the opinion. The court, in its discretion, may require that a witness, before testifying in the form of an opinion, be first examined concerning the matter upon which the opinion is based. Existing law also provides circumstances under which testimony in the form of an opinion based in whole or in significant part on matter that is not a proper basis for an opinion may be excluded. The California Supreme Court, in People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal. 4th 665, held that statements made out of court and relied upon by an expert witness in forming the basis of the witness's opinion are inadmissible hearsay if an expert witness testifies to the content of those statements as true and accurate in support of the expert's opinion. This bill would abrogate the holding in that decision as it applies to proceedings under the Family Code by providing, in these proceedings, that evidence of a statement used to support the opinion of an expert is not inadmissible as hearsay if the court, in its discretion, determines that the statement is reliable, and would require the court to consider certain factors in making its determination. The bill would also authorize, in proceedings under the Family Code, that a witness, before testifying in the form of an opinion, be examined with regard to the factors considered by the court to determine the reliability of a statement. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of accountancy by the California Board of Accountancy, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires the holder of an inactive license, when using the title "certified public accountant" or any other reference that would suggest that the person is licensed by the board, as specified, to place the term "inactive" immediately after that designation. This bill would exempt the holder of an inactive license who is a current member of the California State Legislature or of the United States Congress and who is not engaged in the practice of public accountancy from that requirement.
The California Constitution conditions the imposition of a general tax by a local government upon the approval of a majority of its voters voting on the tax. The California Constitution requires the election for the vote on a general tax to be consolidated with a regularly scheduled election for members of the governing body of the local government, except in cases where the members of the governing body of the local government, by a unanimous vote, declare an emergency. The California Constitution conditions the imposition of a special tax by a local government upon the approval of 23 of the voters voting on the tax. The California Constitution defines "local government" for these purposes to mean any county, city, city and county, including a charter city or county, any special district, or any other local or regional governmental entity. This measure would specify that the electorate exercising its initiative power is within the definition of "local government," and that these conditions and requirements apply to the exercise of that power. The California Constitution prohibits an assessment or property-related fee or charge from being assessed by an agency on any parcel of property unless it meets certain requirements. Existing provisions of the California Constitution require an agency to follow specified procedures in imposing or increasing an assessment or property-related fee or charge, and condition the imposition or increase of an assessment or property-related fee or charge, with certain exceptions, upon the absence of a majority protest on the part of owners of affected parcels and, in the case of a property-related fee or charge, upon approval by either a majority vote of the owners of the subject parcels or a 23 vote of the voters residing in the affected area. The California Constitution defines "agency" for these purposes to mean any county, city, city and county, including a charter city or county, any special district, or any other local or regional governmental entity. This measure would specify that the electorate exercising its initiative power is within the definition of "agency," and that the existing requirements and procedures apply to the exercise of that power.
Existing law sets forth the requirements for the solicitation and evaluation of bids and the awarding of contracts by public entities and requires a project labor agreement for a construction project used or entered into by a public entity, or required of contractors by the public entity, to include specified provisions. Existing law authorizes members of the governing board of a local public entity to choose by majority vote whether to use, enter into, or require contractors to enter into such a project labor agreement for a specific project or projects awarded by that entity and whether to allocate funding to a specific project covered by such an agreement. Existing law prohibits a charter provision, initiative, or ordinance from preventing the governing board of a local public entity, other than a charter city, from exercising this authority on a project-specific basis. Existing law prohibits the use of state funding or financial assistance to support a charter city project if a charter provision, initiative, or ordinance prohibits the governing board's consideration of such a project labor agreement for the project or prohibits the governing board from considering whether to allocate funds to a city-funded project covered by such an agreement. Existing law also prohibits the use of state funding or financial assistance to support any construction projects awarded by a charter city if a charter provision, initiative, or ordinance prohibits, limits, or constrains in any way the governing board's consideration of authority or discretion to adopt, require, or utilize such a project labor agreement for some or all of the construction projects to be awarded by the city, as specified. This bill would delete all of the above prohibitions.
The Public Employees' Retirement Law creates the California Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for the purpose of providing pension benefits to state employees and employees of contracting agencies and prescribes the rights and duties of members of the system and their beneficiaries. Existing law establishes the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System to administer the system, among other things. Existing law authorizes any public agency to participate in and make all or part of its employees members of PERS by contract, as provided, and authorizes a contracting agency to terminate its contract if the contract has been in effect for at least 5 years. Under existing law, the board is required to hold the accumulated contributions from a terminated contract in a terminated agency pool, as specified, for the benefit of the members. Existing law requires the terminating contracting agency to contribute to the terminated agency pool the difference between the accumulated contributions and the board's pension liability for the contracting agency's members, as provided. This bill would authorize a contracting agency to terminate its contract with the board at the agency's will and would not require the contracting agency to fully fund the board's pension liability upon termination of the contract. The bill would authorize the board to reduce the member's benefits in the terminated agency pool by the percentage of liability unfunded. The bill would also authorize a contracting agency who terminates its contract with the board to transfer the assets accumulated in the system to a pension provider designated by the contracting agency.
The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which provides a defined benefit to members of the system, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. PERL vests management and control of PERS in the Board of Administration. Under PERL, membership in PERS is compulsory for specified public employees and optional for other public employees. The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) generally requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act. PEPRA authorizes a public employer to provide a contribution to a defined contribution plan for compensation in excess of certain federal compensation limits applicable to qualified pension trusts, if the plan and contribution meet the requirements set forth in federal law. PEPRA prohibits any of those employer contributions to an employee defined contribution plan from exceeding the employer's contribution rate, as a percentage of pay, required to fund the defined benefit plan. Existing law establishes an alternate retirement program and provides that certain state employees, as defined, who become new members of PERS during their first 24 months of employment, do not make contributions to PERS or receive service credit for their service. Under existing law, these members are instead required to contribute either 5% or 6% of their monthly compensation, as specified, to the alternate retirement program. This bill would create a new optional defined contribution plan for new state employees who first begin employment in a miscellaneous or industrial classification on or after January 1, 2020, and who were not members of any public retirement system prior to that date. The bill would require state employees who are subject to the bill's provisions, within 30 days of beginning employment, to choose either to contribute to the defined contribution plan or to become a member of PERS. The bill would require, if an employee fails to make this decision within the above timeframe, that the employee automatically be placed in PERS. The bill would require state employees who opt to participate in this alternate system to contribute the same percent of compensation as similarly situated employees who contribute to the defined pension program, subject to applicable limits of federal law. The bill would authorize an employee in the defined contribution program, after 5 years, to have the right to continue in the program or switch to the defined benefit plan, subject to certain terms and conditions. The bill would require the Department of Human Resources to administer the defined contribution retirement program established by the bill.
The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) authorizes counties to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions for the purpose of providing pension and death benefits to county and district employees. Existing law creates the Deferred Retirement Option Program within CERL to provide eligible members who elect to participate in the program access to a lump sum or monthly payments for a specified period in addition to a monthly retirement allowance. This bill, on and after January 1, 2019, would prohibit a county or district from allowing a member to participate in a Deferred Retirement Option Program who was not participating in the program on or before December 31, 2018. The bill would also prohibit a county or district from establishing a new or additional Deferred Retirement Option Program.