Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the commission with respect to the purchase of electricity and requires the PUC to review and adopt a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical corporation pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires a retail seller, as defined, to purchase specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for specified compliance periods. A violation of the Public Utilities Act is a crime. This bill would require each retail seller of electricity and each local publicly owned electric utility to procure a proportionate share of electricity products from a statewide total of 4,250 megawatts of qualified renewable energy resources, defined by the bill as a subset of eligible renewable energy resources that consists of certain geothermal energy resources with high performance relative to capacity, and certain solar and wind energy resources that are eligible for specified federal tax credits. The bill would require portions of that 4,250 megawatts to be procured from specified qualified renewable energy resources. The bill would require, no later than May 31, 2019, each retail seller to file with the PUC a plan for complying with this procurement requirement, as specified. If a community choice aggregator or electric service provider, by August 1, 2019, fails to demonstrate it has secured sufficient enforceable and financeable procurement commitments to meet its proportionate share, the bill would require the applicable electrical corporation to procure the amount of any shortfall on behalf of the end-use customers of the community choice aggregator or direct access provider. The bill would require, no later than June 30, 2019, each local publicly owned electric utility to adopt a plan for complying with this procurement requirement, as specified. Under the bill, the electricity procured by retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities from these qualified renewable energy resources would count toward meeting their obligations under the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program to purchase specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime under the Public Utilities Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By imposing a new procurement requirement on local publicly owned electric utilities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the PUC and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to undertake various actions in furtherance of meeting the state's clean energy and pollution reduction objectives. This bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to provide the Legislature, by March 31, 2019, with a joint assessment, as specified, of options for establishing a central statewide entity to procure electricity for all end-use retail customers in the state. 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 specified reasons.
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The Salton Sea Restoration Act requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation and coordination with the Salton Sea Authority, to lead Salton Sea restoration efforts. Existing law, including the act, specifies various sources of funding for Salton Sea restoration and mitigation projects, and provides for the allocation of various responsibilities among state agencies and regional water agencies for implementation and administration of those projects. Under the act, the state's comprehensive management plan for the Salton Sea is known as the "John J. Benoit Salton Sea Restoration Plan." This bill would establish in the Department of Water Resources the Office of Salton Sea Restoration, which would be under the administration and direction of the Director of Salton Sea Restoration. The bill would also provide for the establishment, within the office, of the Salton Sea Restoration Board, as provided. The bill would reorganize existing responsibilities of state agencies under the Salton Sea Restoration Act by requiring, on or before June 30, 2020, that projects under the supervision, direction, or control of those agencies, and associated authorities, responsibilities, and functions of those agencies, be transferred to the office. Pursuant to this reorganization, the bill would require the director, in consultation with the board, to implement the John J. Benoit Salton Sea Restoration Plan and to carry out other activities relating to restoration of the Salton Sea, as specified. The bill would require, on or before June 30, 2019, the Department of Water Resources to enter into a design-build contract, as provided, to undertake specified Salton Sea restoration projects.
Existing law establishes the Capital Access Loan Program for Small Businesses, which is administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, to assist qualifying small businesses in financing the costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties. Under the program, the authority may enter into contracts with participating financial institutions and is required to establish a loss reserve account with participating financial institutions. Existing law authorizes a participating financial institution that experiences a default on a qualified loan enrolled in the Capital Access Loan Program to obtain reimbursement from the authority by submitting a claim for reimbursement for a specified amount of the loss covered by that loan, subject to certain procedures. Existing law also establishes other capital access loan programs that are administered by the authority, including the California Americans with Disabilities Small Business Capital Access Loan Program and the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program. Under the Small Business Financial Assistance Act of 2013, the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, administers specific programs relating to small business, either administered directly by the bank or under contract with small business financial development corporations. Existing law establishes within the bank the California Small Business Finance Center and authorizes the center to administer programs to assist businesses seeking new capital resources under the Small Business Financial Assistance Act of 2013, and establishes other related provisions. The act establishes the program manager as the manager of the California Small Business Finance Center, and requires each small business financial development corporation formed pursuant to the act to submit specified information to the program manager related to their activities. Existing law requires the program manager, no later than January 1 of each year, to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a report for the preceding fiscal year ending June 30 containing the financial product activity of each small business financial development corporation formed. Existing law establishes the Small Business Expansion Fund in the State Treasury, and continuously appropriates specified moneys into the fund for purposes related to the Small Business Financial Assistance Act of 2013. This bill would create the Loan Loss Reserve Account in the California Small Business Expansion Fund to be under the administrative and management control of the California Small Business Finance Center within the bank, and would continuously appropriate all moneys deposited into the account to the center for purposes of the Small Business Financial Assistance Act of 2013. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require that the account be established and maintained by the bank for the benefit of qualified financial companies or financial institutions participating as a lender in the loan loss reserve program or another program authorized pursuant to Small Business Financial Assistance Act of 2013. The bill would authorize the program to hold funds in the loan loss reserve account in a financial institution or company that establishes a trust fund, as specified. The bill would prescribe a process for the transfer of specified moneys, including those from the General Fund, held by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority to the Capital Access Reserve Fund. The bill would require the bank to create holding accounts and loss reserve accounts and would prescribe the purposes for which they may be used. The bill would create the California Loan Loss Reserve Program for Small Business, a loan loss reserve and credit enhancement program, within the Small Business Financial Assistance Act of 2013. The bill would provide for the transfer of the loss reserve loan portfolio of the California Capital Access Loan Program, administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, to the California Small Business Finance Center for purposes of the California Loan Loss Reserve Program for Small Business, pursuant to a specified process. The bill would authorize the bank to contract with a qualified financial company or financial institution to participate as a lender in the program, and would state a specified priority for loans to be enrolled. The bill would require the bank to develop directives and requirements to implement the program. The bill would provide for the maintenance of regulations adopted by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority in connection with the management and control of loan loss reserve funds, as specified. The bill would prescribe a process pursuant to which a financial company or institution participating as a lender may withdraw from the program. The bill would also provide for the transfer of the collateral support loan portfolio of the California Capital Access Loan Program, administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, to the bank pursuant to a specified process. The bill would make conforming and technical changes. The bill would modify the requirements of the annual report described above by requiring the program manager to include in its annual report the financial product activity of each financial institution or company that participates in the loan loss reserve program specified information, and would require the program manager, for one year following the creation of the loan loss reserve program, to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a semi-annual progress report relating to the transfer of the loan loss reserve program from the California Pollution Control Financing Authority to the California Small Business Finance Center at the bank.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. The federal Medicaid program provisions prohibit payment to a state for medical assistance furnished to an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law. Existing law requires individuals under 19 years of age enrolled in restricted-scope Medi-Cal at the time the Director of Health Care Services makes a determination that systems have been programmed for implementation of these provisions, be enrolled in the full scope of Medi-Cal benefits, if otherwise eligible, pursuant to an eligibility and enrollment plan, as specified. Existing law makes the effective date of enrollment for those individuals the same day that systems are operational to begin processing new applications pursuant to the director's determination. This bill would additionally extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to individuals 65 years of age or older, if otherwise eligible for those benefits, but for their immigration status, subject to an appropriation. The bill would also delete provisions delaying implementation until the director makes the determination described above. Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations and this bill would expand Medi-Cal eligibility, the 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the California Gang, Crime, and Violence Prevention Partnership Program, administered by the Department of Justice, to disburse any appropriated funds to community-based organizations and nonprofit agencies that prevent or deter at-risk youth from participating in gangs, criminal activity, or violent behavior, as specified. Existing law provides that specified communities with a high incidence of gang violence are included in the program. This bill would additionally include the communities of Bakersfield, Brawley, Calexico, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, El Centro, Indio, Richmond, Salinas, Soledad, and Stockton in the program.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. For 2017, the adjusted gross income limit is $80,156 and $40,078, respectively. This bill, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2018, would increase the credit amount for a qualified renter, as specified, and would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation the credit amount for taxable years on and after January 1, 2023. The bill would authorize the Governor to suspend the increased credit amount by proclamation if the Governor finds and declares that an economic emergency exists in this state and it is necessary that the increased credit amount be suspended, in which case the credit amount would be the credit amount for the taxable year immediately preceding the taxable year in which the suspension of the credit applies. The bill would also provide that the increased credit amount is $0 for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, unless otherwise specified in a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill. In the event the increased credit amount is $0, the existing credit amounts of $60 and $120, respectively, would be the credit amounts for that taxable year. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim certain days each year for specified reasons. Existing law also designates particular days each year as having special significance and encourages all public schools and educational institutions to observe those days and to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on those days. This bill would require the Governor to annually proclaim April 10 as Dolores Huerta Day, would designate and set apart that date each year as having special significance, and would encourage all public schools and educational institutions to observe that date by conducting exercises remembering the life of Dolores Huerta and recognizing her accomplishments and the contributions she made to the state.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (the act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, under the direction of the Director of the Department of the Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires a prepaid health plan to apply for licensure as a health care service plan if the prepaid health plan operating lawfully under the laws of Mexico elects to operate a health care service plan in this state. Existing law requires the application for licensure to demonstrate compliance with specified requirements, including that the prepaid health plan offers and sells in this state only employer-sponsored group plan contracts exclusively for the benefit of Mexican nationals legally employed in the County of San Diego or the County of Imperial, and for the benefit of their dependents regardless of nationality, that pay for, reimburse the cost of, or arrange for the provision or delivery of health care services that are to be provided or delivered wholly in Mexico, except as specified. Existing law also requires the plan to demonstrate that the plan maintains a specified tangible net equity or is able to demonstrate a reasonable acceptable alternative reimbursement arrangement. Existing law also authorizes the director to prescribe rules and regulations to provide safeguards with respect to the financial responsibility of health care service plans, generally. This bill would instead require that application for licensure to demonstrate that the plan offers and sells in this state only employer-sponsored group plan contracts exclusively for the benefit of persons, rather than Mexican nationals, legally employed in the County of San Diego or the County of Imperial. The bill would eliminate the tangible net equity requirement specified for these plans and would instead require these plans to maintain a tangible net equity as required by the director pursuant to the authority granted to the director with respect to health care service plans, generally. The bill would, for policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2019, authorize the director to exempt, for not more than 5 years, a prepaid health plan from requirements of the act, and would authorize exemptions granted prior to January 1, 2019, to remain in effect until January 1, 2021, as specified. The bill would require the director to post the formal decision regarding the exemption on the department's Internet Web site. The bill would also require, if a prepaid health plan that is subject to these provisions is issued or sold to a group subscriber, the group subscriber to offer to enrollees and dependents coverage that is fully consistent with the provisions of the act or federal law, as specified. The bill would also make technical changes. Because a violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of San Diego and Imperial. 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.