Sen. Cathleen Galgiani

Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as specified, to notify certain persons who have requested notification when an inmate who has committed a violent felony is scheduled to be released. This bill would require the department to develop a unified statewide electronic mail victim notification system for notifying victims who request that notification of parole hearings or release dates for their offenders be sent to them by e-mail.

(1) Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires persons who have been convicted of specified sex offenses to register with local law enforcement. Existing law requires that the registration include the person's address, fingerprints, current photograph, and license plate number. Existing law requires the registrant to update his or her registration annually, upon moving, or upon changing his or her name. Under existing law, failure to register is a crime. This bill would require a person required to register under the act to register his or her Internet accounts and Internet identifiers, defined to include e-mail addresses and designations used for the purposes of chatting, instant messaging, social networking, or other similar Internet communication. The bill would also require the person to update this information within 5 days of establishing an Internet account or creating or using an Internet identifier not previously disclosed, and would require that information to be forwarded by local law enforcement agencies to the Department of Justice. By expanding the scope of a crime and by increasing the duties of local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also require the Department of Justice to release information regarding the relevant Internet accounts and identifiers to entities that provide social networking services on the Internet in order to allow the entities to prescreen or remove from their services persons required to register pursuant to the act. (2) Existing law provides for the granting of probation or parole to specified offenders under specified circumstances. This bill would require, as conditions of probation or parole, that a person required to register as a sex offender, who has either been determined to have a high risk of offending pursuant to the State Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders, or whose victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense, be prohibited from using the Internet to access pornographic material, to access social networking sites, to communicate with other individuals or groups for the purpose of promoting sexual relations with persons under 18 years of age, or to communicate with persons under 18 years of age, except as provided. (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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to regulate various laws regulating agriculture and farmland in the state. Existing law provides that the department is under the control of a civil executive officer known as the Secretary of Food and Agriculture and authorizes the department to provide for the issuance and renewal on a 2-year basis of licenses, certificates of registration, or other indicia of authority issued by the department or any agency in the department. This bill would designate the secretary as the ombudsman for all state agriculture regulations and would require the ombudsman to provide assistance in understanding the process for obtaining permits, assistance in the expeditious completion of the process for obtaining permits, and agriculture-related information and education to assist policy development regarding agricultural issues. The bill would make the ombudsman responsible for reviewing and identifying agriculture regulations that exist within the state and that may have a negative impact on the agricultural industry, and make recommendations regarding changes necessary to alleviate those negative impacts. The bill would also require the ombudsman to report these recommendations to the President pro Tempore of the Senate and to the Speaker of the Assembly on an annual basis, as specified. Existing law sets forth procedures for the adoption of administrative regulations. Among other requirements, these provisions require that every agency submit an initial statement of reasons for proposing the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation, including facts, evidence, documents, testimony, or other evidence on which the agency relies to support an initial determination that the action will not have a significant adverse economic impact on business. This bill would repeal the requirement that every agency include in the initial statement facts, evidence, documents, testimony, or other evidence on which the agency relies to support an initial determination that the action will not have a significant adverse economic impact on business. Existing law requires that the notice of proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation include specified information, including, if the agency makes an initial determination that the action will not have a significant statewide adverse economic impact directly affecting business, a declaration to that effect. Existing law also requires every agency to prepare and submit with an adopted regulation a final statement of reasons that includes, among other things, an explanation setting forth the reasons for rejecting any proposed alternatives that would lessen the adverse economic impact on small businesses. Existing law also requires state agencies proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal any administrative regulation to assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals, as specified. The bill would also revise these requirements with respect to the final statement to require that it include an explanation setting forth the reasons for rejecting any proposed alternatives that would lessen the adverse economic impact on any business, rather than small businesses. The bill would also require an agency to provide in the notice of proposed action documentation of the assessment described above to include cumulative adverse economic impacts, as defined, in addition to other adverse impacts, on California business.

Article XIX of the California Constitution requires revenues from state excise taxes on motor vehicle fuels for use in motor vehicles upon public streets and highways, over and above the cost of collection and any refunds authorized by law, to be used for various street and highway purposes and for certain mass transit guideway purposes. Existing law requires state excise fuel tax revenues to be deposited in various accounts and to be allocated, in part, for various purposes, including the cost of collection and authorized refunds. Existing law requires the balance of these funds remaining after authorized deductions to be transferred to and deposited monthly in the Highway Users Tax Account in the Transportation Tax Fund. Existing law provides for formula apportionment of specified revenues in the Highway Users Tax Account to cities and counties for the transportation purposes authorized by Article XIX of the California Constitution, and requires other portions of those revenues to be transferred to and deposited in the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund. Existing law provides that the money in the Highway Users Tax Account is appropriated for the above-described transportation purposes, but also generally provides that the money in the State Highway Account may not be expended until appropriated by the Legislature. This bill, in any year in which the Budget Act has not been enacted by July 1, would provide that all moneys in the Highway Users Tax Account in the Transportation Tax Fund, except as specified, are continuously appropriated and may be encumbered for certain purposes until the Budget Act is enacted. The bill would thereby make an appropriation. The bill would authorize the Controller to make estimates in order to implement these provisions.

Existing law prohibits specified holders of alcoholic beverage licenses from having specified relationships with an on-sale alcoholic beverage licensee, with limited exceptions. Existing law permits a manufacturer, winegrower, rectifier, distiller, distilled spirits wholesaler, or any agent of those licensees, to conduct market research and, in connection with that research, to purchase from licensed off-sale retailers data, regarding purchases and sales of alcoholic beverage products, at the customary rates that those retailers sell similar data for nonalcoholic beverage products, provided that a licensed retailer shall not be obligated to purchase or sell the alcoholic beverages of the manufacturer, winegrower, rectifier, or distiller. This bill would additionally include a distilled spirits wholesaler in the provision prohibiting a licensed retailer from being obligated to purchase or sell the alcoholic beverages of the licensee conducting the market research. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a licensee, subject to these provisions, to violate existing provisions relating to the purchase of that advertising time or space. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the licensees subject to these criminal provisions. 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.

(1) The Enterprise Zone Act provides for the designation and oversight by the Department of Housing and Community Development of various types of economic development areas throughout the state, including enterprise zones, targeted tax areas, local agency military base recovery areas (LAMBRAs) , and Manufacturing Enhancement Areas, collectively known as geographically targeted economic development areas, or G-TEDAs. Pursuant to these provisions, qualifying entities in those areas may receive certain tax and regulatory incentives. This bill would rename the act as the California Economic and Community Development Zone Act. This bill would delete the provisions governing Manufacturing Enhancement Areas and targeted tax areas, and make various revisions in the requirements for designating and administering enterprise zones and LAMBRAs, and G-TEDAs collectively. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize a taxpayer to claim certain tax incentives for activities conducted in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA, including a credit for a specified percentage of wages paid during the taxable year to a qualified employee, as defined, who is employed by the taxpayer during the taxable year in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA. This bill would, with respect to employees hired before January 1, 2011, increase specified requirements for an individual to be a qualified employee for purposes of the enterprise zone hiring credits, and make other specified changes relating to the requirements for a taxpayer to take advantage of the credits. This bill would, with respect to employees hired after January 1, 2011, revise the enterprise zone hiring credit, so that the credit would be available only for a qualified employee for each of the first 3 years of employment and modify the applicable percentage amounts. This bill would impose new requirements for a taxpayer claiming this credit, including a registration requirement made under penalty of perjury. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also limit the carryover period to 15 years. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2013, impose a specified 50% overall limitation on these credits, as provided. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a credit in an amount equal to the amount of sales or use tax paid in connection with qualified property that is purchased and placed in service during the taxable year by a taxpayer engaged in a trade or business in an enterprise zone, targeted tax area, or LAMBRA, and allow unused credits to be carried over indefinitely to subsequent taxable years. This bill would require the taxpayer to register, as specified, a business in an enterprise zone, targeted tax area, or a LAMBRA before the taxpayer can claim a credit, and would limit the carryover period to 15 years. This bill would also impose a specified 50% overall limitation on these credits as provided. (4) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow deductions in the amount of net interest received by a taxpayer in payment of a debt of a person or entity engaged in a trade or business in an enterprise zone. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, and before January 1, 2013, limit the amount of these deductions to 50% of the net interest received by a taxpayer in payment of debt, as specified. (5) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow specified credits for hiring employees in a targeted tax area and manufacturing enhancement area. This bill would limit the credits to qualified employees hired by a qualified taxpayer before January 1, 2011. (6) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a deduction for a net operating loss of a person or entity engaged in business in an enterprise zone or a LAMBRA, and any unused net operating losses to be a net operating loss carryover to other years, as specified. This bill would allow a deduction for those net operating losses only for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2011, but would allow any unused net operating losses to continue to be carried to other years as provided. (7) 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. (8) This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. (9) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, as defined. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Under existing law, electric utilities, as defined, are required to provide eligible customer-generators with net energy metering, as defined. Under existing law, electrical corporations are required to provide eligible biogas digester customer-generators, that commence operation by December 31, 2009, with net energy metering, as defined, under a pilot program. This bill would replace the existing pilot program for eligible biogas digester customer-generators with a net energy metering program for eligible customer-generators, as defined, that use agricultural residues, animal wastes, or animal renderings to generate electricity and that meet certain requirements.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt by January 1, 2011, greenhouse gas emission limits and emission reduction measures to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. Existing law requires the state board to ensure that entities that have voluntarily reduced their greenhouse gas emissions prior to the implementation of the regulations receive appropriate credit for early voluntary reductions. This bill would require the state board to ensure that the cement manufacturing, glass manufacturing, soda ash manufacturing, and steel production sectors receive appropriate credit for taking early action through energy efficiency or energy reduction improvements. The bill would also make specified legislative findings.

Existing law provides that, when a child is removed from his or her family by the juvenile court, placement of the child in foster care should secure, as nearly as possible, the custody, care, and discipline equivalent to that which should have been given the child by his or her parents. Existing law provides enumerated rights for children who are placed in foster care. Existing law establishes the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson to disseminate specified information, including the stated rights of foster youth, and to investigate and attempt to resolve complaints made by or on behalf of children placed in foster care, related to their care, placement, or services. This bill would enumerate rights for foster youth relating to mental health services. The bill would require the office, in consultation with various entities, to develop, no later than July 1, 2012, standardized information explaining the rights specified and to distribute this information to foster youth.

The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state in the amount of 1% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided, for a specified amount of time. Existing law also, until June 30, 2011, imposes an additional tax equal to 0.15% of the market value of specified vehicles, as determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, to the vehicle license fee, to be deposited in the General Fund and transferred to the Local Safety and Protection Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would repeal the provision relating to the sunset date and repeal of the additional 0.15% tax, thereby depositing additional moneys into a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.