Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, on or before September 1, 2011, to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, as defined, and requires that the fire prevention fee be adjusted annually using prescribed methods. Existing law requires the State Board of Equalization to collect the fire prevention fees, as prescribed, commencing with the 2011–12 fiscal year. Existing law establishes the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and prohibits the collection of fire prevention fees if, commencing with the 2012–13 fiscal year, there are sufficient amounts of moneys in the fund to finance specified fire prevention activities for a fiscal year. Existing law requires that the fire prevention fees collected, except as provided, be deposited into the fund and be made available, to the board and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for certain specified fire protection activities that benefit the owners of structures in state responsibility areas who are required to pay the fee. Existing law further requires the board, on and after January 1, 2013, to submit an annual written report to the Legislature on specified topics. This bill would repeal the above provisions relating to the fire prevention fees.
Sponsored bills
This measure would designate April 24, 2012, as "California Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923." It would memorialize the Congress and the President of the United States to act likewise to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.
Existing law authorizes a local agency to install and operate an automated parking enforcement system on local public agency-owned or local public agency-operated streetsweepers for the purpose of digital photographing of street-sweeping parking violations occurring in street-sweeping parking lanes. This bill would additionally authorize the installation of an automated parking enforcement system on streetsweepers operated by a vendor pursuant to a contract with the local public agency.
The Mobilehome Residency Law governs tenancies in mobilehome parks, and imposes various duties on the owners of mobilehome parks and the agents and representatives authorized to act on behalf of the owners. Existing law requires a local agency of any city that administers an ordinance, rule, regulation, or initiative measure for rent control purposes to permit the management of a mobilehome park to separately charge a homeowner for certain fees imposed by specified public entities on the space rented by the homeowner, except as provided. This bill would additionally require a local agency described above to permit the management to separately charge a homeowner for a pro rata amount, as specified, of certain fees, assessments, or other charges imposed by governmental entities, on or after January 1, 2013, and any future increases of those fees, assessments, or other charges. The bill would provide that nothing in these provisions requires the management to refund, reduce, or otherwise change any fees or charges billed to a homeowner as of December 31, 2012.
Under existing law, all contracts, amendments to contracts, provisions, clauses, covenants, and agreements contained in, collateral to, or affecting contracts with a public agency for design professional services that purport to require the design professional to defend the public agency under an indemnity agreement, including the duty and the cost to defend, are unenforceable. Existing law exempts claims that arise out of, pertain to, or relate to the negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct of the design professional from this provision. This bill would limit a design professional's duty to defend a public agency against a negligence claim to reimbursement of defense costs incurred by the public agency that were caused by the design professional's actual negligence.
Existing law specifies that bonds issued by a local agency, as defined, may bear interest at a coupon rate or rates as determined by the legislative body in its discretion but not to exceed 12% per year payable. Existing law also specifies that, notwithstanding this provision, a local agency may, where authorized by law, sell bonds at a discount below par. This bill would prohibit a school district or community college district from issuing bonds at a discount exceeding 5%, as specified.
(1) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a high school district, the governing board of a joint powers regional occupational center or program, or the county superintendent of schools that conducts any county-operated regional occupational center or program, to establish and maintain, in connection with a high school or regional occupational center or program under its or his or her jurisdiction, cooperative career technical education programs or community classrooms as part of a career technical education course in accordance with prescribed rules and regulations. This bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding the need for career technical education programs, and would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education to consider ways to expand career technical education programs in middle and high schools in the state. (2) Existing law requires the governing board of each school district participating in a career technical education program to appoint a career technical education advisory committee to develop recommendations on the program and to provide liaison between the district and potential employers. The committee is required to consist of specified representatives. This bill would require that the committee include members of labor and trade organizations and additional representatives, from various career technical education industry sectors, recommended by local industry organizations, except as specified. By requiring the governing board of a school district to work with industry organizations to reconstitute the membership of that committee in order to continue participating in a career technical education program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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.
The California Constitution requires the Legislature to encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement. Under existing law, the Legislature finds and declares that improved science education in elementary and secondary schools contributes to improvements in pupil performance. Existing law provides for the establishment by the University of California, upon approval by the regents, of the California Science Project for purposes of providing science education to public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary school personnel located in rural, urban, and suburban areas throughout the state. This bill would make specified findings and declarations and would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education to consider ways to increase the number of pupils who go to college and graduate with degrees in the various scientific and engineering fields. The bill would require the Superintendent and the state board to direct the appropriate entity to revise the science teaching frameworks and standards, as specified, and to incorporate in the science curriculum applied mathematics, reading comprehension, expository writing, analytical, intellectual, and creative skills, and engineering elements.
(1) Existing law requires each school district, charter school, and county office of education to administer to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, designated achievement tests. Existing law establishes the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop an Academic Performance Index (API) , which consists in part of the results of the tests administered pursuant to the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program, to measure the performance of schools and to rank schools based on the value of the API. Existing law requires schools to report their ranking, including a description of the components of the API, in their annual school accountability report card. Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to discuss the results of the annual ranking at the next regularly scheduled meeting following the annual publication of the API and school rankings by the Superintendent and encourages that meeting to include a discussion that examines STAR test results by school, grade, and subgroup, as specified. This bill would require the governing board of a school district to conduct a public hearing to discuss, analyze, and compare the results of the API, STAR test scores, and school rankings and would instead require that public hearing to include a discussion that examines STAR test results by school, grade, and subgroup, as specified. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to conduct an assessment of the reasons for a school's performance results, by grade, and adopt an improved performance plan, as specified, for specified low performing schools. This bill would instead require the governing board of a school district to perform these functions. (2) This bill would require the governing board of a school district to notify in writing specified persons and entities if it chooses to hold a public hearing at one of its regularly scheduled meetings to discuss pupil achievement on the reading, English language arts, and mathematics portions of the achievement tests administered pursuant to the STAR program and pupil progress toward meeting the optimum performance levels on those tests. (3) By requiring school districts to perform additional duties relating to public hearings for pupil assessments, 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, 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.
(1) The California Constitution limits the maximum amount of any ad valorem tax on real property to 1% of the full cash value of the property. The California Constitution states that the 1% limitation for ad valorem taxes does not apply to ad valorem taxes or special assessments to pay the interest and redemption charges on bonded indebtedness incurred by a school district, community college district, or county office of education for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities approved by 55% of the voters if the proposition includes specified accountability requirements. The accountability requirements include a requirement that the governing board of either the school district or community college district establish and appoint a citizens' oversight committee and conduct annual, independent performance and financial audits. Existing law requires the audits for each preceding fiscal year to be submitted by March 31 of each year to the citizens' oversight committee for its review. This bill would require the school district or community college district to also submit the performance and financial audits to the Controller and county superintendent of schools. The bill would require the Controller to post the audits on the Controller's Internet Web site. The bill would require the county superintendent of schools to include a review of the audits when reviewing other audits submitted by school districts under his or her jurisdiction, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (2) 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.