Sen. Cathleen Galgiani

This measure would proclaim January 13, 2009, as Korean-American Day.

This measure would proclaim the month of March 2009 as California Science Education Month, and would extend the Legislature's support to students of all ages who are interested in science.

Existing law gives to the State Air Resources Board the primary responsibility for the control of emissions from motor vehicles. The state board is required to administer the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program to provide grants to offset the incremental cost of projects that reduce covered emissions from covered sources. The state board is required to establish and update grant criteria and guidelines for covered vehicle projects. This bill would require an off-road project that involves farm equipment to be deemed to have a minimum project life of at least 10 years. The bill would authorize a grant to be awarded for those projects involving farm equipment regardless of the time period between the date the application for funding was submitted and the compliance date required by any local, state, or federal statute, regulation, rule, memorandum of agreement, memorandum of understanding, or other legal restriction or legally binding document that requires the change in equipment, vehicle, or operation involved in the project, provided the project is not funded after the date for compliance.

Existing law, the Horse Racing Law, provides that if the total amount paid to the state as license fees by racing associations and fairs is less than $40,000,000 in any calendar year, all associations and fairs that conducted live racing during the year of the shortfall shall remit to the state, on a pro rata basis according to the amount paid as license fees by each association or fair, the amount necessary to bring the total amount paid to the state as license fees to $40,000,000. This bill would delete those provisions and instead provide that, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in lieu of any license fee payable to the state prescribed for or referred to in specified provisions of the Horse Racing Law, any association or fair that conducts a racing meeting shall pay a license fee to fund the California Horse Racing Board and the equine drug testing program in accordance with a formula devised by the board in consultation with the industry, as provided. The bill would provide that the license fee reductions resulting from these provisions, after payments to fund the board and the equine drug testing program, shall be distributed as specified for thoroughbred racing, quarter horse racing, harness racing, and all other breeds. Existing law provides that revenues from satellite wagering are deposited in a separate account in the Fair and Exposition Fund and that, if those revenues exceed $11,000,000 in a fiscal year, 98 percent of the excess is transferred to the Fair and Exposition Fund for specified allocations. Existing law also provides that, after the Fair and Exposition Fund receives more than $13,000,000 in a fiscal year, half of the excess is transferred to the General Fund. This bill would require, on July 1, 2009, and each July 1 thereafter, the transfer of $32,000,000 from the General Fund to be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the separate account of the Fair and Exposition Fund created for satellite wagering revenues, and would continuously appropriate those moneys for allocation for the financial support of the network of California fairs. The bill would require that all of the amount in excess of $11,000,000 be transferred to the Fair and Exposition Fund for allocation as specified in existing law, except that no part of this transferred money would be further transferred to the General Fund. Existing law requires the first $1,100,000 of all revenues distributed to racing associations for payment to the state as license fees to be deposited in a special account in the Fair and Exposition Fund and continuously appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for supplementing purses at fair meetings to achieve certain specified purposes. This bill would instead require the first $1,100,000 of all funds for distribution as purses generated at satellite wagering facilities statewide from wagering on thoroughbred horse racing to be deposited in that special account for those purposes. Under existing law, revenues distributed to the state as license fees from horse racing are required to be deposited in the Fair and Exposition Fund and are continuously appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for various regulatory and general governmental purposes. Because this bill would require that General Fund moneys be deposited into, and distributed from, that fund, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would become effective on July 1, 2009.

Existing law requires that, upon a breach of the obligation of a mortgage or transfer of an interest in property, the trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary record a notice of default in the office of the county recorder where the mortgaged or trust property is situated and mail the notice of default to the mortgagor or trustor. Existing law provides that, after not less than 3 months after the filing of the notice of default, the parties described above may give notice of sale, stating the time and place of the sale, as specified. This bill, until January 1, 2011, and only with respect to specified loans that were recorded between January 1, 2003, to January 1, 2008, would prohibit a mortgagee, trustee, or other person authorized to take sale from giving a notice of sale for an additional 90 days if the loan at issue is the first mortgage or deed of trust that the property secures, the borrower occupied the property as his or her principal residence at the time the loan became delinquent, and the notice of default has been filed. The bill would exempt certain loans from this prohibition, including, upon order of the Commissioner of Corporations, the Commissioner of Financial Institutions, or the Real Estate Commissioner, as applicable, the loans of a mortgage loan servicer, as defined, if the mortgage loan servicer applies to the commissioner for an exemption indicating that it has implemented a loan modification program with specified features and the commissioner concludes that the program meets specified requirements. The bill would permit a mortgage loan servicer to submit a revised application if its application is denied, and would permit the commissioner to revoke an exemption under certain circumstances. The bill would require the commissioners to adopt regulations in this regard, as specified. The bill would require the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing to report to the Legislature 3 months after the first exemption is granted regarding the details of the actions on exemption of loans serviced by a mortgage loan servicer under a loan modification program and to submit subsequent reports every 6 months thereafter. The bill would require the secretary to post specified information on the exemption program on the agency's Internet Web site. The bill would provide that a person who violates these provisions is deemed to have violated his or her license law. The bill would provide that the failure to comply with the provisions described above does not invalidate a sale that is otherwise valid under specified provisions. The bill would require that a notice of sale include a declaration from the mortgage loan servicer regarding the issuance of a temporary or final order of exemption from the commissioner pursuant to these provisions and the timeframe applicable to the notice of sale. The bill would make a statement of legislative findings.

Existing law gives to the State Air Resources Board the primary responsibility for the control of emissions from motor vehicles. The state board is required to administer the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program to provide grants to offset the incremental cost of projects that reduce covered emissions from covered sources. The state board is required to establish and update grant criteria and guidelines for covered vehicle projects. This bill would require an off-road project that involves farm equipment to be deemed to have a minimum project life of at least 10 years. The bill would authorize a grant to be awarded for those projects involving farm equipment regardless of the time period between the date the application for funding was submitted and the compliance date required by any local, state, or federal statute, regulation, rule, memorandum of agreement, memorandum of understanding, or other legal restriction or legally binding document that requires the change in equipment, vehicle, or operation involved in the project, provided the project is not funded after the date for compliance.