Existing law authorizes a peace officer to place a hold on property in possession of a pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin dealer if the peace officer has probable cause to believe that property is stolen, as specified. Existing law requires a pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin dealer to produce property at reasonable times and places whenever the property is required by a peace officer in a criminal investigation and provides that the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin dealer may deliver the property to the peace officer upon request. Existing law makes it a crime, punishable by specified fines or imprisonment, or both, if a person knowingly violates these provisions. This bill would instead require a pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin dealer to deliver property to a peace officer upon request when the property is required by a peace officer in a criminal investigation. Because a knowing violation of the bill's provisions by a pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or coin dealer would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Sponsored bills
Existing law creates the continuously appropriated Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund, for the purposes of paying Medi‑Cal providers, providers of drug treatment services for persons infected with HIV, and providers of services for the developmentally disabled, for services provided on or after July 1 of the fiscal year for which a budget has not yet been enacted, as specified, or if there is a deficiency in the Medi‑Cal budget in any fiscal year. Existing law transfers, for each fiscal year in which these payments are necessary, up to $1,000,000,000 from the General Fund, in the form of loans, and appropriates $1,000,000,000 from the Federal Trust Fund, to the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund. This bill would, instead, transfer up to $2,000,000,000 from the General Fund, in the form of loans, and appropriate $2,000,000,000 from the Federal Trust Fund, to the Medical Providers Interim Payment Fund for each fiscal year in which these payments are necessary, as specified.
This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.
This measure would designate that January 16, 2012, be observed as the official memorial of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth, commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , on a biennial basis beginning in 2003, to adopt an integrated energy policy report providing information on specified subjects related to energy. Existing law establishes the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, a continuously appropriated fund appropriated to the Energy Commission, for the purposes of funding programs designed to foster the development of new in-state renewable electricity generation technology facilities. This bill would require the Energy Commission to conduct research on generating electricity using piezoelectric transducers under roadways or railways. The bill would require the Energy Commission to establish pilot projects that would employ piezoelectric-based energy-harvesting technology, if the Energy Commission determines that the technology has the potential to generate electricity with performance, reliability, and cost projections that are comparable to existing or emerging renewable energy sources. The bill would require the Energy Commission to collaborate with the Department of Transportation and would require the department to conduct research on the piezoelectric-based energy-harvesting technology according to the department's usual research protocol if the pilot project is conducted in a facility that is part of the state highway or rail system under the department's jurisdiction. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to expend the moneys in the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement this research. The Energy Commission would be required to report its findings in the integrated energy policy report adopted in 2013. These provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2015.
(1) Existing law, the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to enter into 10-year contracts with owners of land devoted to agricultural use, whereby the owners agree to continue using the property for that purpose, and the city or county agrees to value the land accordingly for purposes of property taxation. Existing law authorizes the parties to a Williamson Act contract to mutually agree to rescind a contract under the act in order to simultaneously enter into an open-space easement for a certain period of years. This bill would authorize the parties to a Williamson Act contract, after approval by the Department of Conservation, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to mutually agree to rescind the contract in order to simultaneously enter into a solar-use easement that would require that the land be used for solar photovoltaic facilities for a term no less than 20 years, except as specified. The bill would require the city or county to charge the property owner a rescission fee based upon the fair market value of the property at the time of the rescission, as specified. This bill would require a city or county to include certain, and authorizes a city or county to include other, restrictions, conditions, or covenants in the deed or instrument granting a solar-use easement. This bill would provide that a solar-use easement would be automatically renewed annually, unless either party filed a notice of nonrenewal. This bill would provide that a solar-use easement may only be extinguished on all or a portion of the parcel by nonrenewal, termination, or by returning the land to its previous contract under the Williamson Act. This bill would require that if the landowner extinguishes the contract either by filing a notice of nonrenewal or by terminating the solar-use easement, the landowner shall restore the property to the conditions that existed before the easement by the time the easement terminates. This bill would authorize a landowner to terminate a solar-use easement by complying with certain procedures, and paying a termination fee based upon the termination value of the property, as determined by the county assessor. This bill would provide that specified parties may bring an action to enforce the easement if it is violated. (2) Existing law requires the county assessor to consider, when valuing real property for property taxation purposes, the effect of any enforceable restrictions to which the use of the land may be subjected. Under existing law these restrictions include, but are not limited to, zoning, recorded contracts with governmental agencies, and various other restrictions imposed by governments. This bill would also require the county assessor to consider, when valuing real property for property taxation purposes, solar-use easements. By changing the manner in which county assessors assess property for property taxation purposes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The Natural Community Conservation Planning Act defines "covered species" for purposes of the act to mean those species, both listed and nonlisted pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act conserved and managed under an approved natural community conservation plan and that may be authorized for take. The act further authorizes the department to, prior to approval of a conservation plan, authorize by permit the taking of any covered species whose conservation and management is provided for in a natural community conservation plan approved by the department. This bill would revise the definition of "covered species" to include fully protected species, as specified, and would make conforming changes. The bill would also include specified fully protected species in the species authorized to be taken prior to the approval of a conservation plan. (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.
(1) Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, establishes the missions and functions of the state's 3 segments of public postsecondary education, which are the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by resolution, make them applicable. Existing provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act require the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, and the governing boards of community college districts to adopt or provide for the adoption of rules and regulations governing student behavior, known as rules of student conduct. This bill would request the Trustees of the California State University, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of each community college district to adopt and publish policies on harassment, intimidation, and bullying to be included within the rules of student conduct governing their respective segments of public postsecondary education. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that rules and regulations governing student conduct be published, at a minimum, on the Internet Web sites of each public postsecondary educational campus and as part of any printed material covering those rules and regulations within the respective public postsecondary education systems. (2) The Equity in Higher Education Act, a part of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, provides that it is the policy of the state to afford all persons, regardless of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or other specified bases, equal rights and opportunities in the postsecondary educational institutions of the state. For these purposes, the act defines "gender" to include gender identity. This bill would revise the definition of gender to include "gender expression" for purposes of the Equity in Higher Education Act. The bill would request the Trustees of the California State University, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of each community college district to designate an employee at each of their respective campuses as a point of contact to address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender faculty, staff, and students. The bill would request each segment to collect aggregate demographic information regarding sexual orientation and gender identity of staff and students within other aggregate demographic data collected, and would require annual transmittal of any report to the Legislature, as specified, and posting of the information on the Internet Web site of each respective institution. The bill would encourage the Legislative Analyst to conduct an assessment of the campuses of each of the segments of public postsecondary education to develop recommendations to improve the quality of life on those campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender faculty, staff, and students, and to publish a summary of those recommendations on its Internet Web site. The bill would make various conforming changes to existing nondiscrimination laws affecting postsecondary educational institutions and programs, and requirements related to reporting hate violence, as defined, to additionally include sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression within the scope of those programs and requirements.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing arts professions by various boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. A violation of specified provisions is a crime. Existing law defines telemedicine, for the purpose of its regulation, to mean the practice of health care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, transfer of medical data, and education using interactive audio, video, or data communications. Existing law requires a health care practitioner, as defined, to obtain verbal and written informed consent from the patient or the patient's legal representative before telemedicine is delivered. Existing law also imposes various requirements with regard to the provision of telemedicine by health care service plans, health insurers, or under the Medi-Cal program, including a prohibition on requiring face-to-face contact between a health care provider and a patient for services appropriately provided through telemedicine, subject to certain contracts or policies. Existing federal regulations, for the purposes of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, authorize the governing body of a hospital whose patients are receiving telemedicine services to grant privileges based on its medical staff recommendations that rely on information provided by the distant-site hospital. Existing state regulations require medical staff, appointed by the governing body of a hospital, to adopt procedures for the evaluation of staff applications for credentials and privileges. Existing law provides that health care service plans and health insurers shall not be required to pay for consultations provided by telephone or facsimile machines. Existing law provides that a willful violation of the provisions governing health care service plans is a crime. This bill would delete the provisions of state law regarding telemedicine as described above, and would instead set forth provisions relating to telehealth, as defined. This bill would require a health care provider, as defined, prior to the delivery of health care via telehealth, to verbally inform the patient that telehealth may be used and obtain verbal consent from the patient. This bill would provide that failure to comply with this provision constitutes unprofessional conduct. This bill would, subject to contract terms and conditions, also preclude health care service plans and health insurers from imposing prior to payment, certain requirements regarding the manner of service delivery. This bill would establish procedures for granting privileges to, and verifying and approving credentials for, providers of telehealth services. By changing the definition of a crime applicable to health care service plans, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law prohibits a requirement of face-to-face contact between a health care provider and a patient under the Medi-Cal program for services appropriately provided through telemedicine, subject to reimbursement policies developed by the Medi-Cal program to compensate licensed health care providers who provide health care services, that are otherwise covered by the Medi-Cal program, through telemedicine. This bill would, instead, prohibit a requirement of in-person contact between a health care provider and patient under the Medi-Cal program for any service otherwise covered by the Medi-Cal program when the service is appropriately provided by telehealth, as defined, and would make related changes. (3) Existing law, until January 1, 2013, and to the extent that federal financial participation is available, authorizes, under the Medi-Cal program, teleophthalmology and teledermatology by store and forward, as defined. This bill would delete the repeal of the above-described authorization. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing income tax laws allow individual taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds. This bill would allow a taxpayer to designate on a tax return that a specified amount in excess of his or her tax liability be transferred to the Municipal Shelter Spay-Neuter 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 the return. This bill would provide that all money contributed to the fund pursuant to these provisions, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and to the Department of Food and Agriculture for distribution of grants to eligible municipal shelters on a first-come-first-served basis, as specified, for the purposes of providing low cost or free spay-neuter services and for administrative costs. This bill would require eligible municipal shelters, as defined, in order to receive a grant, to file an application with the Department of Food and Agriculture, as specified. This bill would provide that these voluntary contribution provisions are repealed on either January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the taxable year the fund first appears on the personal income tax return, or on January 1 of an earlier calendar year, if the Franchise Tax Board estimates that the annual contribution amount will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for subsequent taxable years. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding the importance of informing taxpayers that they may make voluntary contributions to certain funds or programs on state income tax returns, and would state the intent of the Legislature to encourage all persons who prepare state income tax returns to inform their clients in writing, prior to the completion of any state income tax return, that they may make a contribution to any voluntary contribution checkoff on the state income tax return.
Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture, headed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. This bill would, until July 1, 2017, create the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative. It would require, by July 1, 2012, the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to prepare recommendations, to be presented upon request to the Legislature, regarding actions that need to be taken to promote food access in the state. The bill would establish the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative Council and would require the council to implement the initiative, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish an advisory group, as specified. The bill would create the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative Fund in the State Treasury, to be comprised of federal, state, philanthropic, and private funds, for the purpose of expanding access to healthy foods in underserved communities and, to the extent practicable, to leverage other funding, as specified. Moneys in the fund would be expended upon appropriation by the Legislature.