Sen. Marty Block

This measure would recognize the contributions of the aerospace industry to the history, economy, security, and educational system of California, its communities, and its citizens by proclaiming the month of March 2013 as California Aerospace Month.

This measure would call on the United States Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, Senate Bill No. 47, authored by Senator Leahy, and ensure the sustainability of vital programs designed to keep women and families safe from violence and abuse.

Existing law provides for the regulation of various professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs and for the licensure or registration of individuals in that regard. Existing law authorizes any licensee whose license expired while he or she was on active duty as a member of the California National Guard or the United States Armed Forces to reinstate his or her license without examination or penalty if certain requirements are met. This bill would require the boards described above, with certain exceptions, to waive the renewal fees, continuing education requirements, and other renewal requirements as determined by the board, if any are applicable, of any licensee or registrant who is called to active duty as a member of the United States Armed Forces or the California National Guard if certain requirements are met. The bill would, except as specified, prohibit a licensee or registrant from engaging in any activities requiring a license while a waiver is in effect. The bill would require a licensee or registrant to meet certain renewal requirements within a specified time period after being discharged from active duty service prior to engaging in any activity requiring a license. The bill would require a licensee or registrant to notify the board of his or her discharge from active duty within a specified time period.

Under existing law, the Department of General Services exercises oversight of the acquisition and replacement of motor vehicles by state agencies. As of July 1, 2012, "state agencies" are defined for these purposes to include each campus of the California State University. This bill would delete the reference to each campus of the California State University from the definition of state agencies under these provisions. Existing law required, until July 1, 2012, the Trustees of the California State University to report to the Legislature on their motor vehicle procurement, to include specified information, on or before June 30 of each year. This bill would require the trustees to make an interim report to the Governor and the Legislature on January 1, 2014, and a final report on January 1, 2015, on their motor vehicle procurement, as provided. The bill would also require the trustees, to the greatest extent feasible, to purchase vehicles using statewide commodity contracts. This bill would repeal these provisions on July 1, 2015. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law provides that, in addition to any other remedy authorized by law, when a spouse is convicted of attempting to murder the other spouse or of soliciting the murder of the other spouse, the injured spouse shall be entitled to 100% of the community property interest in his or her retirement and pension benefits, and a prohibition of specified support or insurance benefits from the injured spouse to the convicted spouse. Existing law defines "injured spouse" for these purposes. Under existing law, a family court is required to consider specified factors in ordering spousal support, including the criminal conviction of an abusive spouse. This bill would expand the above-described provisions to apply when a spouse is convicted of a specified violent sexual felony against the other spouse, and would require the court to consider the convicted spouse's criminal conviction for a violent sexual felony in ordering spousal support, as specified. The bill would also require the court to order the attorney's fees and costs to be paid from the community assets if warranted by economic circumstances. Under the bill, the injured spouse, as defined, would not be required to pay any of the convicted spouse's attorney's fees out of his or her separate property. The bill would further, at the request of the injured spouse, define the date of the parties' legal separation as the date of the incident giving rise to the conviction, or earlier if the court finds that the circumstances justify an earlier date, for community property purposes.

(1) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make public records available for inspection, subject to specified criteria, and with specified exceptions. The act excludes from disclosure certain information contained in applications for licenses to carry firearms submitted by peace officers, judges, court commissioners, and magistrates to county sheriffs and the chiefs or other heads of municipal police departments. The act also exempts from disclosure public records that are exempted or prohibited from disclosure by federal or state law and lists some of those other laws. This bill would add prosecutors and public defenders to the types of professionals whose firearm license applications are not fully required to be disclosed as public records. By increasing the duties on county sheriffs and the chiefs or other heads of municipal police departments that issue firearm license applications, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also add a constitutional provision to the list of laws that may operate to exempt public records from the disclosure requirements of the act. This bill would also make technical changes to these provisions. This bill would state that changes made by this bill to a specified code section are not intended to supersede changes made to that code section in the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 2012 that changed the name of the California Emergency Management Agency to the Office of Emergency Services. (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.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires community college district governing boards to charge students an enrollment fee of $46 per unit per semester, effective with the summer term of the 2012 calendar year. Existing law also authorizes the board of governors to waive this fee under certain circumstances related to the income status of the student. This bill would require that a student qualifying for a fee waiver meet minimum academic and progress standards adopted by the board of governors, and would provide detailed requirements regarding the content, adoption, and application of those standards. (2) Existing law, known as the Seymour-Campbell Matriculation Act of 1986, defines "matriculation" as a process that brings a college and a student who enrolls for credit into an agreement for the purpose of realizing the student's educational objectives. The act specifies the matriculation services that community colleges are required to provide, including the processing of the application for admission, orientation and preorientation services, assessment and counseling upon enrollment, and postenrollment evaluation of a student's progress. This bill would revise and recast the act, and rename it the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012. The act would state its purpose as increasing California community college access and success by providing effective core matriculation services of orientation, assessment and placement, counseling, and other education planning services, and academic interventions. The bill would specify the responsibilities of students and institutions in entering into the matriculation process. The bill would require the board of governors to develop a formula for allocating funding for the Student Success and Support Program that would be implemented under the act. The bill would specify that, in the 2012–13 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, the act would be operative only if funds are specifically appropriated for its purposes. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (3) The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to review and report specified information regarding the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012 to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by July 1, 2014, and by July 1 of every even-numbered year thereafter, 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, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. The California State University, which is governed by the Trustees of the California State University (trustees) , and the University of California, which is governed by the Regents of the University of California (regents) , are 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents act by resolution to make them applicable. Under existing law, the California State University and the University of California are authorized to charge fees to students attending their respective institutions. This bill would establish the Working Families Student Fee Transparency and Accountability Act as a part of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, and would establish various policies relating to student fees and student financial aid at the University of California and the California State University. The bill would require the regents and the trustees to comply with prescribed public notice and student consultation procedures prior to adopting an increase in mandatory systemwide fees, and would prohibit them from adopting a mandatory systemwide fee increase before specified dates, except as specified. The bill would require the regents and the trustees, by April 2, 2013, to develop a list of factors that would be required to be taken into consideration when developing recommendations to adjust mandatory systemwide fees. The bill, commencing with the 2012–13 academic year, would require the trustees and the regents to provide annual reports on expenditures and financial aid to the Legislature, and would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to annually review and report to the Legislature its findings, conclusions, or recommendations regarding the implementation of policies implemented pursuant to the bill. Because the provisions of the bill would be added to the Donahoe Higher Education Act, they would apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents act by resolution to make them applicable.

(1) Existing law, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, provides, among other things, for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary schools in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act prohibits an institution, as defined, from, among other things, offering an unaccredited doctoral degree program without disclosing to prospective students prior to enrollment that the degree program is unaccredited, whether the degree issued is in a field that requires licensure in California, and any known limitation of the degree, including, but not limited to, whether the degree is recognized for licensure or certification in California and other states. This bill would apply that prohibition to the offering of associate, baccalaureate, and master's degree programs without disclosing that the institution, or specified degree program, is unaccredited, and would list specified limitations of the degree program whose disclosure the bill would require. (2) The act requires an institution to provide a prospective student prior to enrollment with a school catalog, which is required to contain specified disclosures relating to the school or a particular educational program. This bill would require the school catalog to include a statement specifying whether the institution, or any of its programs, are accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, and, if the institution is unaccredited, or offers an associate, baccalaureate, master's, or doctoral degree program that is not accredited, the bill would require the statement to disclose the known and specified limitations of the degree program. (3) The act requires an institution to provide a prospective student prior to enrollment with a School Performance Fact Sheet, which is required to contain specified information relating to the educational program, including, among other things, salary or wage information if the institution or a representative of the institution makes any express or implied claim about the salary that may be earned after completing the educational program. This bill would remove that limitation, and require all institutions to include salary or wage information in the fact sheet, not just institutions that make express or implied claims about the salary that may be earned after completing the educational program. The bill would require the fact sheet to include the most recent 3-year cohort default rate for federal student loans reported by the United States Department of Education and the percentage of students receiving federal student loans if the institution participates in federal financial aid programs, as specified. (4) Existing law defines graduates employed in the field for purposes of the act. This bill would revise that definition to include graduates who are gainfully employed within 6 months of a specified date in a single position for which the institution represents the program prepares its graduates, as specified. (5) Existing law requires an institution to annually report specified information regarding completion rates, job placement rates, license examination passage rates, and salary and wage information to the bureau and to publish that information in its School Performance Fact Sheet. Existing law requires the information used to substantiate these rates to be documented and maintained by the institution for at least 5 years, and authorizes an institution to retain the information in electronic format. This bill would additionally require an institution to annually report, and publish in its School Performance Fact Sheet, the most recent official 3-year cohort default rate for federal student loans for the institution and the percentage of enrolled students receiving federal student loans. The bill also would require the information used to substantiate the annually reported rates and information to include specified information, and would require an institution to retain the information in an electronic format and make it available to the bureau upon request. (6) The bill would require an institution that maintains an Internet Web site to provide, on that Internet Web site, the school catalog, a School Performance Fact Sheet for each educational program offered by the institution, student brochures offered by the institution, a link to the bureau's Internet Web site, and the institution's most recent annual report submitted to the bureau. The bill would also require the institution to include information concerning where students may access the bureau's Internet Web site anywhere the institution identifies itself as being approved by the bureau.