Existing law imposes various requirements to be satisfied prior to exercising a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust. Existing law defines a mortgage servicer as a person or entity who directly services a loan, or is responsible for interacting with the borrower, and managing the loan account on a daily basis, as specified. Existing law defines a borrower, for purposes of specified provisions relating to mortgages and deeds of trust, as a natural person who is a mortgagor or trustor who is potentially eligible for any federal, state, or proprietary foreclosure prevention alternative program offered by, or through, his or her mortgage servicer. This bill would include a successor in interest in the definition of a borrower for purposes of the eligibility provisions described above. The bill would define a successor in interest for these purposes as a natural person who provides the mortgage servicer with notification of the death of the mortgagor or trustor and reasonable documentation, as specified, showing that the person is a surviving spouse, as specified.
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Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. The program is funded by a combination of federal, state, and county funds. In order to be eligible for AFDC-FC, existing law requires a child or nonminor dependent to be placed in a specified placement, including a licensed group home or an out-of-state group home. Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including group homes, by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law also requires the department to provide oversight of out-of-state group homes, as specified, pursuant to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2018, eliminate the placement option of a group home or an out-of-state group home. The bill would authorize a short-term residential treatment center as an additional placement option and would specify the conditions for that placement option, including that the child has a documented need for short-term specialized and intensive supervision or treatment that cannot be maintained in a family setting, that the placement not exceed 120 days, except under certain circumstances, and that the child and family team, as defined, convene at least every 60 days to conduct a review of the placement, as specified. By imposing a higher level of service on county employees, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the State Department of Social Services, on or before December 31, 2016, to establish a working group consisting of county welfare departments and other stakeholders to develop and implement a single, statewide standardized child assessment tool, known as the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Plus assessment tool, that would assess specified factors, such as the impact of trauma on the child and the child's behavioral and emotional needs. The bill would also require the department, on or before December 31, 2016, to issue guidance to the county child welfare agencies on utilizing child and family teams to review the assessment tool and make decisions concerning placements, services, and supports for a child. 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.
This measure would proclaim January 26, 2016, as India Republic Day, and would urge all Californians to join in celebrating India Republic Day.
Existing law, the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration Project Act of 2002, known as Laura's Law, until January 1, 2017, authorizes each county to elect, through a resolution adopted by the county board of supervisors or through the county budget process and along with a finding that specified mental health programs may not be reduced as a result of participation, to offer certain assisted outpatient treatment services for their residents. Existing law authorizes participating counties to pay for the services provided from moneys distributed to the counties from various continuously appropriated funds, including the Mental Health Services Fund when included in a county plan, as specified. This bill would delete the requirement that the board of supervisors of a county that elects to participate in the program make the finding described above. The bill instead would require a county that has not held a specified public hearing by January 1, 2017, to hold a hearing by January 1, 2018, and would require the board of supervisors to consider both whether specified programs may be reduced as a result of participation and options for providing services other than court-ordered outpatient treatment, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would extend the January 1, 2017, repeal date of those provisions until January 1, 2022. Existing law authorizes various persons to request the county mental health director to file a petition in the superior court for an order for assisted outpatient treatment for a person who meets specified criteria. Existing law requires the county mental health director to investigate the appropriateness of filing a petition. This bill would additionally authorize a judge in a superior court's mental health court, reentry court, or other collaborative justice court available for improving the mental health of the defendant, or a probate court, as specified, to request a petition for that order to be filed for a person who appears before the judge. The bill would make additional conforming changes. 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.
This measure would proclaim the month of January 2016 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month, encourage all Californians to become educated about human trafficking and work to eradicate these criminal practices within and beyond our borders, and encourage Members of the Legislature, as well as organizations, businesses, and individuals, to host or sponsor and attend community events in order to bring visibility and support to efforts made by nongovernmental organizations to recognize and combat human trafficking.
Existing law subjects an employer who is, or wishes to become, a contractor with the state for public works, or for goods or services, to various nondiscrimination requirements. Existing law authorizes requiring an employer to submit a nondiscrimination program to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing for approval and certification, prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with the state, as well as requiring the provision of periodic reports of contractor or subcontractor compliance with that program. This bill would enact the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act of 2015. The bill would require an employer with 100 or more employees in state, as specified, and a contract of 30 days or more, prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with the state, to submit a nondiscrimination program to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and to submit periodic reports no more than annually of its compliance with that program. The bill would authorize the department to require approval and certification of the program. The bill would permit the department to require an employer with fewer than 100 employees in state or a contract of less than 30 days to submit a nondiscrimination report. The bill would require the department to define an employee for these purposes. The bill would require the nondiscrimination program to include policies and procedures designed to ensure equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees, an analysis of employment selection procedures, and a workforce analysis, as specified. The bill would specify that its provisions are not to be construed to negate certain exemptions established by regulation that predate its enactment or to require the department to reevaluate the validity of these exemptions, as specified. The bill would make a statement of legislative findings.
Existing law allows individuals charged with specified crimes to qualify for deferred entry of judgment. A defendant qualifies if he or she has no conviction for any offense involving controlled substances, the charged offense did not involve violence, there is no evidence of a violation relating to narcotics or restricted dangerous drugs other than a violation that qualifies for the program, the defendant's record does not indicate that probation or parole has ever been revoked without being completed, and the defendant's record does not indicate that he or she has been granted diversion, deferred entry of judgment, or was convicted of a felony within 5 years prior to the alleged commission of the charged offense. Under the existing deferred entry of judgment program, an eligible defendant may have entry of judgment deferred, upon pleading guilty to the offenses charged and entering a drug treatment program for 18 months to 3 years. If the defendant does not perform satisfactorily in the program, does not benefit from the program, is convicted of specified crimes, or engages in criminal activity rendering him or her unsuitable for deferred entry of judgment, the defendant's guilty plea is entered and the court enters judgment and proceeds to schedule a sentencing hearing. If the defendant completes the program, the criminal charges are dismissed. Existing law allows the presiding judge of the superior court, with the district attorney and public defender, to establish a pretrial diversion drug program. This bill would make the deferred entry of judgment program a pretrial diversion program. The bill would provide that a defendant qualifies for the pretrial diversion program if he or she has no prior conviction within 5 years prior to the alleged commission of the charged offense for any offense involving controlled substances other than the offense that qualifies him or her for diversion, the charged offense did not involve violence, there is no evidence of a violation relating to narcotics or restricted dangerous drugs other than a violation that qualifies for the program and the defendant has no prior conviction for a serious or violent felony within 5 years prior to the alleged commission of the charged offense. Under the pretrial diversion program created by this bill, a qualifying defendant would enter a not guilty plea, and proceedings would be suspended in order for the defendant to enter a drug treatment program for 6 months to one year, or longer if requested by the defendant with good cause. The bill would require the court, if the defendant does not perform satisfactorily in the program or is convicted of specified crimes, to terminate the program and reinstate the criminal proceedings. The bill would require the criminal charges to be dismissed if the defendant completes the program.
(1) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, and before January 1, 2017, a credit for qualified taxpayers, defined as the person responsible for planting a crop, managing the crop, and harvesting the crop from the land, in an amount equal to 10% of the cost that would otherwise be included in, or required to be included in, inventory costs, as specified under federal law, with respect to the donation of fresh fruits or fresh vegetables to food banks located in California. This bill, under both laws, would expand the credit to apply to the donation of qualified donation items, defined as raw agricultural products or processed foods. The bill would expand the definition of qualified taxpayer to also include the person responsible for growing or raising a qualified donation item, or harvesting, packing, or processing a qualified donation item. The bill would modify the credit amount to instead equal 15% of the qualified value, as defined, of the qualified donation items, but not less than an amount that would otherwise be calculated and allowed under existing law. The bill would extend the operation of the credit to taxable years before January 1, 2021, and would require it to be claimed on a timely filed original return. The bill would make various conforming changes and would also make a nonsubstantive change to the personal income tax provision. (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and administer the State Emergency Food Assistance Program (SEFAP) , to provide food and funding for the provision of emergency food to food banks, as provided. Existing law creates the State Emergency Food Assistance Program Account and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would allocate the moneys in the account to SEFAP and require that those moneys be used for the purchase, storage, and transportation of food grown or produced in California and for the department's administrative costs. This bill would rename the State Emergency Food Assistance Program (SEFAP) as the CalFood Program and would rename the State Emergency Food Assistance Program Account as the CalFood Account. The bill would make other conforming changes in this regard.
Existing law establishes the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority to provide financial assistance for projects that promote the use of alternative energies. Existing law, until January 1, 2021, authorizes the authority to approve a project for financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion. Existing law prohibits the authority from granting sales and use tax exclusions that exceed $100,000,000 for each calendar year. This bill would expand projects eligible for the sales and use tax exclusion to include projects that process or utilize recycled feedstock, but would not include a project that processes or utilizes recycled feedstock in a manner that constitutes disposal. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 26003 and 26011.8 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 1269 that would become operative only if this bill and AB 1269 are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.