(1) Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would establish the California Higher Education Endowment Corporation (CHEEC) in state government. The bill would establish an oversight board to govern the CHEEC and would require that board to appoint the chief executive officer of the CHEEC. The bill would require the CHEEC to annually allocate the moneys in the continuously appropriated California Higher Education Fund, which would be created by the bill, to the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, as specified. The bill also would authorize the board to invest the moneys in the fund in accordance with prescribed procedures. (2) Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose an oil and gas severance tax upon any producer, except as provided, for the privilege of severing oil or gas from the earth or water in this state for sale, transport, consumption, storage, profit, or use, as provided, at a rate of 12.5% of the gross value of the product. The tax would be administered by the State Board of Equalization and would be collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require the board to deposit all taxes, penalties, and interest collected pursuant to these provisions in the California Higher Education Fund, as provided. Because this bill would expand application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
This measure would recognize the week of April 18, 2010, through April 24, 2010, as Crime Victims' Rights Week.
Provisions relating to the administration of personal income taxes allow individual taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds. This bill would allow taxpayers to designate on their tax returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the California National Guard Education Assistance Fund, which would be created by this bill. However, the bill would provide that a voluntary contribution designation for this fund may not be added on the tax return until another voluntary contribution designation is removed from that return. This bill would require that all moneys contributed to the fund pursuant to these provisions, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and to the Controller for allocation to the California National Guard Education Assistance Fund, as provided. This bill would provide that these voluntary contribution provisions are repealed on January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the taxable year the fund first appears on the tax return. The bill would further provide that these provisions are repealed for taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the calendar year in which the Franchise Tax Board estimates by September 1 that the contributions made on returns filed in that calendar year will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for subsequent taxable years.
Under existing law the Department of Veterans Affairs has specified powers and duties relating to military veterans, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs is in charge of the department. This bill would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, on or before June 30, 2011, and every year thereafter, to identify other state agencies and departments that offer or provide services to veterans, for the purpose of entering into formal agreements that specify the respective roles and activities of the entities.
Existing law provides for the regulation of insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires administrators who perform certain acts in connection with life or health insurance coverage or annuities to be registered with the Insurance Commissioner and to comply with certain other requirements. This bill would require an administrator providing administrative services for a self-funded dental benefit plan to provide a claimant with a written notice of the claimant's right to an appeal, the appeal process, and certain other information in the case of an adverse benefit determination on a claim, as provided.
This measure would proclaim the month of May to be Women Veterans Recognition Month.
Existing law provides that school districts that implement a class size reduction program are subject to specified requirements relating to grade levels to receive funding to implement the program. The governing board of a school district is required to certify to the Superintendent of Public Instruction that it has met the requirements. If a school district receives class reduction funding but does not implement its class size reduction program for all grades and classes for which it received funding, the Superintendent is required to notify the Controller and the school district in writing and the Controller is required to deduct an amount equal to the amount received by the school district for each class that the school district failed to reduce, as specified, subject to Constitutional limitation. This bill would make various specified changes in the formulas for determining the amount of funding deducted by the school district for failure to comply with the class reduction program. The bill would also make conforming changes.
Existing law provides that after inmates are released from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, they are generally placed on parole, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide each inmate, prior to his or her release, with the inmate's identification card number or driver's license number, if one is in the inmates central file.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes the establishment of community college districts under the administration of community college governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at community college campuses throughout the state. Existing law requires the board of governors to develop criteria and standards, in accordance with specified statewide minimum requirements, for the purposes of making the annual budget request for the California Community Colleges to the Governor and the Legislature and allocating state general apportionment revenues. Those statewide minimum requirements include, among other things, a requirement that the calculations of each community college district's revenue level for each fiscal year shall be based on specified criteria, with revenue adjustments being made for increases or decreases in full time equivalent students (FTES) for specified purposes. These requirements also include a requirement that the statewide requested increase in budgeted workload FTES be based on the sum of specified computations, including the positive difference between the California unemployment rate and a rate of 5%. For purposes of this computation, existing law prohibits that positive difference from exceeding 2%. This bill would delete that limit on the positive difference between the California unemployment rate and a rate of 5% for purposes of calculating the statewide requested increase in budgeted workload FTES.
Existing law does not provide a system of universal health care coverage for California residents. Existing law provides for the creation of various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi‑Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would establish the California Healthcare System to be administered by the newly created California Healthcare Agency under the control of a Healthcare Commissioner appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits under the California Healthcare System, which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services. The bill would provide that a resident of the state with a household income, as specified, at or below 200% of the federal poverty level would be eligible for the type of benefits provided under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, or legislation to allow various existing federal, state, and local health care payments to be paid to the California Healthcare System, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. The bill would create the Healthcare Policy Board to establish policy on medical issues and various other matters relating to the system. The bill would create the Office of Patient Advocacy within the agency to represent the interests of health care consumers relative to the system. The bill would create within the agency the Office of Health Planning to plan for the health care needs of the population, and the Office of Health Care Quality, headed by a chief medical officer, to support the delivery of high quality care and promote provider and patient satisfaction. The bill would create the Office of Inspector General for the California Healthcare System within the Attorney General's office, which would have various oversight powers. The bill would prohibit health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being issued for services covered by the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the Healthcare Fund and the Payments Board to administer the finances of the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the California Healthcare Premium Commission (Premium Commission) to determine the cost of the California Healthcare System and to develop a premium structure for the system that complies with specified standards. The bill would require the Premium Commission to recommend a premium structure to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2013, and to make a draft recommendation to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public 90 days before submitting its final premium structure recommendation. The bill would specify that only its provisions relating to the Premium Commission would become operative on January 1, 2011, with its remaining provisions becoming operative on the date the Secretary of California Health and Human Services notifies the Legislature, as specified, that sufficient funding exists to implement the California Healthcare System. The bill would require that system to be operative within 2 years of that date and would provide for various transition processes for that period. The bill would extend the application of certain insurance fraud laws to providers of services and products under the system, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by revising the definition of a crime. The bill would enact other related provisions relative to budgeting, regional entities, federal preemption, subrogation, collective bargaining agreements, compensation of health care providers, conflict of interest, patient grievances, independent medical review, and associated matters. 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.