(1) Existing law provides the Central Valley Flood Protection Board with the authority to construct and maintain various flood control works. Existing law authorizes the board to hold a hearing or partial hearing before a committee of one or more members of the board, or before the general manager or chief engineer of the board, at any place within the state. This bill would eliminate the authorization for the board to hold a hearing before the general manager and would authorize the board to hold a hearing or partial hearing before a qualified neutral hearing officer designated by the board president or the executive officer. (2) Existing law requires specified plans that contemplate the construction, enlargement, revetment, or alteration of any levee, embankment, canal, or other excavation in the bed of or along or near the banks of the Sacramento or San Joaquin Rivers or any of their tributaries or specified lands to be approved by the board before construction is commenced. Existing law authorizes the board, and the executive officer if delegated that authority, to issue an order directing a person or public agency to cease and desist from undertaking, or threatening to undertake, an activity that may encroach on levees, channels, or other flood control works under the jurisdiction of the board. Existing law requires the cease and desist order to be issued only if the person or public agency has failed to respond in a satisfactory manner to a prescribed notice provided, as specified. Existing law provides that a cease and desist order is effective upon its issuance and that copies are required to be served immediately by certified mail upon the person or agency subject to the order. This bill would repeal these provisions and provide that it is unlawful for any person or public agency to interfere with, obstruct the performance, maintenance, or operation of, or otherwise take actions that may adversely affect facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control, designated floodways, or streams that are regulated by the board. The bill would authorize the board, following notice and opportunity for a hearing, to order the removal or modification of an encroachment that was previously issued a permit by the board if the board makes a specified finding. This bill would authorize the board, the executive officer, the department, or certain local agencies to issue a notice of violation, as specified, if it is determined that any person or public agency has undertaken, is threatening to undertake, or maintains any encroachment, flood system, improvement, or activity in violation of certain provisions. If the board or executive officer determines that any person or public agency has failed to adequately respond to a notice of violation, the bill would authorize the board or executive officer to issue an order directing that person or public agency to cease and desist, as specified. The bill would require that if the board determines that any person or public agency has failed to correct a violation as required in a cease and desist order, the board shall hold an enforcement hearing and may, at the conclusion of the hearing, issue an enforcement order, as prescribed. This bill would provide the board, executive officer, Department of Water Resources, and local agencies that operate and maintain facilities and works on behalf of the board with the authority, as prescribed, to take administrative or civil enforcement actions to abate and remedy any interference or potential interference with facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control, designated floodways, or streams that are regulated by the board. The bill would establish the Flood Risk Management Fund in the State Treasury and require all funds received from these penalties to be paid into the fund and available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the board to carry out enforcement of these provisions. The bill would require the board to adopt emergency regulations necessary to implement these provisions.
Sponsored bills
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical and gas corporations, 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. Existing law requires the commission to designate a baseline quantity of electricity and gas necessary to supply a significant portion of the reasonable energy needs of the average residential customer and requires that electrical and gas corporations file rates and charges, to be approved by the commission, providing baseline rates. Existing law requires the commission, in establishing the baseline rates, to avoid excessive rate increases for residential customers. Existing law requires the commission to establish a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers, referred to as the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program. The CARE program provides lower rates to low-income customers that are financed through a separate rate component, which is required to be a nonbypassable element of the local distribution service and collected on the basis of usage. Eligibility for the CARE program is for those electric and gas customers with annual household incomes that are no greater than 200% of the federal poverty guideline levels. Existing law revises certain prohibitions upon raising residential electrical rates adopted during the energy crisis of 2000–01, to authorize the commission to increase the rates charged residential customers for electricity usage up to 130% of the baseline quantities by the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index from the prior year plus 1%, but not less than 3% and not more than 5% per year. Existing law additionally authorizes the commission to increase the rates in effect for CARE program participants for electricity usage up to 130% of baseline quantities by the annual percentage increase in benefits under the CalWORKs program, as defined, not to exceed 3%, and subject to the limitation that the CARE rates not exceed 80% of the corresponding rates charged to residential customers not participating in the CARE program. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that CARE program participants be afforded the lowest possible electric and gas rates and, to the extent possible, be exempt from additional surcharges attributable to the energy crisis of 2000–01. This bill would repeal the limitations upon increasing the electric service rates of residential customers, including the rate increase limitations applicable to electric service provided to CARE customers, but would require the commission, in establishing rates for CARE program participants, to ensure that low-income ratepayers are not jeopardized or overburdened by monthly energy expenditures and to adopt CARE rates in which the level of discount for low-income electricity and gas ratepayers correctly reflects their level of need, as determined by a specified needs assessment. The bill would require that this needs assessment be performed not less often than every 3rd year. The bill would revise the CARE program eligibility requirements to provide that for one-person households, program eligibility would be based on 2-person household guideline levels. The bill would require the commission, when establishing the CARE discounts for an electrical corporation with 100,000 or more customer accounts in California, to ensure that the average effective CARE discount be no less than 30% and no more than 35% of the revenues that would have been produced for the same billed usage by non-CARE customers and that the entire discount be provided in the form of a reduction in the overall bill for the eligible CARE customer. The bill would require that increases to rates and charges in rate design proceedings, including any reduction in the CARE discount, be reasonable and subject to a reasonable phase-in schedule relative to the rates and charges in effect prior to January 1, 2014. The bill would authorize the commission to approve new, or expand existing, fixed charges, as defined, for an electrical corporation for the purpose of collecting a reasonable portion of the fixed costs of providing service to residential customers. The bill would require the commission to ensure that any new or expanded fixed charges reasonably reflect an appropriate portion of the different costs of serving small and large customers, do not unreasonably impair incentives for conservation and energy efficiency, and do not overburden low-income and moderate-income customers. The bill would impose a $10 limit per residential customer account per month for customers not enrolled in the CARE program, would impose a $5 per month limit per residential customer account per month for customers enrolled in the CARE program, and would, beginning January 1, 2016, authorize the commission to adjust this maximum allowable fixed charge by no more than the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the prior calendar year. The bill would authorize the commission to consider whether minimum bills are an appropriate substitute for any fixed charges. Existing law prohibits the commission from requiring or permitting an electrical corporation to do any of the following: (1) employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing, as defined, with or without bill protection, as defined, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2013, (2) employ mandatory or default time-variant pricing, without bill protection, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2014, or (3) employ mandatory or default real-time pricing, without bill protection, for residential customers prior to January 1, 2020. Existing law authorizes the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant to time-variant pricing and to participate in other demand response programs. Existing law requires the commission to only approve an electrical corporation's use of default time-variant pricing for residential customers, beginning January 1, 2014, if those residential customers have the option to not receive service pursuant to time-variant pricing and incur no additional charges, as specified, as a result of the exercise of that option. Existing law exempts certain customers from being subject to default time-variant pricing. This bill would delete these provisions and instead prohibit the commission from requiring or permitting an electrical corporation from employing mandatory or default time-variant pricing, as defined, for any residential customer, except that beginning January 1, 2018, the commission may require or authorize an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing to residential customers, subject to specified limitations and conditions. The bill would permit the commission to authorize an electrical corporation to offer residential customers the option of receiving service pursuant to time-variant pricing and to participate in other demand response programs. The bill would provide that a residential customer would have the option to not receive service pursuant to time-variant pricing and not incur any additional charge as a result of the exercise of that option. Unless the commission has authorized an electrical corporation to employ default time-of-use pricing, the bill would require the commission to require each electrical corporation to offer default rates to residential customers with at least 2 usage tiers and would require that the first tier include electricity usage of no less than the baseline quantity established by the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to modify the baseline seasonal definitions and applicable percentage of average consumption for one or more climate zones. Existing law requires every electric utility, defined to include an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, or an electrical cooperative, to develop a standard contract or tariff providing for net energy metering, as defined, and to make this contract or tariff available to eligible customer generators, as defined, upon request for generation by a renewable electrical generation facility, as defined. An electric utility, upon request, is required to make available to eligible customer generators contracts or tariffs for net energy metering on a first-come-first-served basis until the time that the total rated generating capacity used by eligible customer generators exceeds 5% of the electric utility's aggregate customer peak demand. Existing law authorizes a local publicly owned electric utility to elect to instead offer co-energy metering, which uses a generation-to-generation energy and time-of-use credit formula, as specified. This bill would require a large electrical corporation, defined as an electrical corporation with more than 100,000 service connections in California, to provide net energy metering to additional eligible customer-generators in its service area through July 1, 2017, or until the corporation reaches its net energy metering program limit, as specified. The bill would require the commission, no later than December 31, 2015, to develop a standard contract or tariff for eligible customer-generators with a renewable electrical generation facility that is a customer of a large electrical corporation. In developing the standard contract or tariff for large electrical corporations, the commission would be required to take specified actions. The bill would require the large electrical corporation to offer the standard contract or tariff to an eligible customer-generator beginning July 1, 2017, or prior to that date if ordered to do so by the commission because it has reached the net energy metering program limit established for the corporation. The bill would provide that there shall be no limitation on the number of new eligible customer-generators entitled to receive service pursuant to the new standard contract or tariff developed by the commission for a large electrical corporation. Existing law provides that a fuel cell electrical generation facility is not eligible for the tariff unless it commences operation before January 1, 2015. This bill would instead provide that a fuel cell electrical generation facility is not eligible for the tariff unless it commences operation before January 1, 2017. The Public Utilities Act requires each electrical corporation, as a part of its distribution planning process, to consider specified nonutility owned distributed energy resources as an alternative to investments in its distribution system to ensure reliable electric services at the lowest possible costs. This bill would require an electrical corporation, by July 1, 2015, to submit to the commission a distribution resources plan proposal, as specified, to identify optimal locations for the deployment of distributed resources, as defined. The bill would require the commission to review each distribution resources plan proposal submitted by an electrical corporation and approve, or modify and approve, a distribution resources plan for the corporation. The bill would require that any electrical corporation spending on distribution infrastructure necessary to accomplish the distribution resources plan be proposed and considered as part of the next general rate case for the corporation and would authorize the commission to approve this proposed spending if it concludes that ratepayers would realize net benefits and the associated costs are just and reasonable. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a rewewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, at specified percentages of the total kilowatthours sold to their retail end-customers during specified compliance periods. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the targets established by the program. Existing law prohibits the commission from requiring the procurement of eligible renewable energy resources in excess of the specified quantities. This bill would authorize the commission to require a retail seller to procure eligible renewable energy resources in excess of the specified quantities. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because portions of this bill are within the act and require action by the commission to implement their requirements, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime or expanding an existing crime. 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 law, the Safe Body Art Act, regulates the performance of body art, as defined, and the permitting of body art facilities. Existing law defines "body art facility" as the specified building, section of a building, or vehicle in which a practitioner performs body art. Under existing law, performing body art without being registered, operating a body art facility without a health permit, or operating a temporary body art event without a permit is a misdemeanor. This bill would add to the definition of "body art facility" places where body art is demonstrated for the purpose of instruction. The bill would also prohibit the performance of body art at a place other than a permanent or temporary body art facility. This bill would also make it a misdemeanor to perform body art at an unpermitted location. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires, prior to the performance of body art, a client to read, complete, and sign a questionnaire, which is considered confidential information, and an informed consent document containing specified information, including a statement regarding the permanent nature of body art. Existing law requires the body art facility to maintain the confidentiality of the information in the questionnaire and to shred the confidential medical information after 2 years. This bill would require any information gathered in the questionnaire that is personal medical information and that is subject to the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) or similar state laws to be maintained or disposed of in compliance with those provisions. The bill would also require the informed consent document to include a notice that tattoo inks, dyes, and pigments have not been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration and that the health consequences of using these products are unknown. Existing law requires a first-time registrant as a body art practitioner to provide documentation evidencing 6 months of related experience. This bill would remove this provision. Existing law establishes requirements for a body art facility to be granted a health permit and prohibits a facility from operating as a body art facility without that permit. A facility operating without a permit or other required licenses may be shut down by the local authority. Existing law specifies the requirements for a permitted body art facility, including floors, walls, and ceilings that are smooth, free of open holes, and washable. This bill would authorize a county to suspend or revoke the health permit of a body art facility if a person who does not possess a valid practitioner registration is allowed to perform body art. The bill would require a body art facility to notify the local enforcement agency within 30 days of the resignation, termination, or hiring of a body art practitioner. The bill would also make specified changes to the requirements for a body art facility, including that the floors and walls must be nonabsorbent, that the facility provide adequate toilet facilities, as specified, and that removal of sharps waste, as defined, be done in a specified manner. Existing law requires the sponsor of a temporary body art demonstration booth to ensure the availability of support facilities and supplies for body art practitioners and vendors, including providing an eye wash station. This bill would remove the requirement of an eye wash station at a temporary body art demonstration booth. The bill would require that the demonstration booth include at least 50 square feet for each practitioner and hand washing facilities, and would prohibit food and tobacco products in the demonstration booth. The bill would require the sponsor to submit a temporary facility permit application to the local enforcement authority within 30 days of the event, would prohibit a sponsor from allowing a person to perform body art at the event if the person does not have a valid body art practitioner registration, and would require the sponsor to ensure the availability of various facilities and supplies, including trash pickup, wastewater removal, and required forms and documents. Existing law requires a health permit for a practitioner who will be performing body art in a vehicle in a jurisdiction for more than 7 days in a 90-day period. This bill would instead prescribe requirements for mobile body art facilities, including that specified provisions of the Safe Body Art Act be met, that the mobile facility have certain amenities, and that all body art procedures be completed inside the mobile body art facility. 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 law, the Consumer Cooperative Corporation Law, governs the organization and operation of consumer cooperative corporations. The law specifies the provisions that may be set forth in the articles of incorporation of a consumer cooperative. This bill would include among these provisions authorization for the board of directors to fix the rights, privileges, preferences, restrictions, and conditions attaching to any wholly unissued class of memberships authorized in the bylaws or articles and, if the bylaws or articles authorize a class of memberships to be divisible into series, to any wholly unissued series of a membership class authorized to be divisible into series, and to fix the number of memberships in the series and the designation of the series, as specified. The bill would require any amendment to the bylaws or articles of a consumer cooperative to be approved by the members of a series if the series would be adversely affected by the action, as specified. The bill would also make other conforming changes.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds. This bill would authorize taxpayers to designate on their tax returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the American Red Cross, California Chapters Fund, which is created by this bill. This bill would require that all moneys 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 and to the Office of Emergency Services to disburse the moneys to the American Red Cross, California Chapters for planning and implementing programs for disaster relief, and to ensure state oversight of that disbursement, as prescribed. This bill also would require a plan for the use of these contributions to be submitted to the Office of Emergency Services, as provided. This bill would provide that these voluntary contribution provisions are inoperative and repealed on the earlier of the following: inoperative on January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the first appearance of the fund on the tax return and repealed on December 1 of that year or inoperative for taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the calendar year in which the Franchise Tax Board estimates by September 1 that the contributions made on returns filed in that calendar year will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for subsequent taxable years, and repealed on December 1 of that calendar year.
(1) Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Insurance Commissioner. Existing law requires a health care service plan or a health insurer offering individual plan contracts or individual insurance policies to fairly and affirmatively offer, market, and sell certain individual contracts and policies to all federally eligible defined individuals, as defined, in each service area in which the plan or insurer provides or arranges for the provision of health care services. Existing law prohibits the premium for those policies and contracts from exceeding the premium paid by a subscriber of the California Major Risk Medical Insurance Program who is of the same age and resides in the same geographic region as the federally eligible defined individual, as specified. This bill would make these provisions of law applicable only to individual grandfathered health plans, as defined, previously issued to federally eligible defined individuals, unless and until specified provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) are amended or repealed, as specified. The bill would also require a health care service plan or an insurer, at least 60 days prior to the plan or policy renewal date, to issue prescribed notifications to a person who is enrolled in an individual health benefit plan or individual health insurance policy that is not a grandfathered health plan. The bill would also impose the notification requirement for individuals who are covered under the California Major Risk Medical Insurance Program. Because a willful violation of this requirement by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law establishes a formula establishing the upper limit for premium charges for health care plans and health insurance. Existing law authorizes the plan and insurer to adjust the premium based on family size, as specified. This bill, after January 1, 2014, and until January 1, 2020, instead of the current formula, would limit the premium charged for coverage provided in 2014 to the rate charged in 2013 multiplied by 1.09 and would limit the rate of growth thereafter, as specified. (3) Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer to offer continuation or conversion of individual or group coverage for a specified period of time and under certain circumstances. The bill would make those provisions inoperative, unless and until specified provisions of PPACA are amended or repealed, as specified, and would make conforming changes. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 10785 of the Insurance Code proposed by AB 1391, that would become operative only if AB 1391 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2014, and this bill is chaptered last. (5) 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 bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would honor the California Council on Science and Technology for 25 years of service and unbiased advice to the State of California.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact President Barack Obama's budget proposal to increase funding for preschool and early learning. This measure would also urge the Superintendent of Public Instruction to prepare a plan for making California competitive for future increases in federal funding to preschool and early learning programs.
Existing law establishes the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program in the California Physician Corps Program within the Health Professions Education Foundation, which provides financial incentives, as specified, to a physician and surgeon for practicing in a medically underserved community. Existing law authorizes the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to adopt guidelines by regulation and requires the foundation to use guidelines for selection and placement of program applicants. These guidelines provide priority consideration to applicants who meet specified criteria, including that the applicant has 3 years of experience working in medically underserved areas or with medically underserved populations. The guidelines also must seek to place the most qualified applicants in the areas with the greatest need. This bill would delete the requirement that the guidelines seek to place the most qualified applicants in the areas of greatest need. The bill would require the guidelines for the selection and placement of program applicants to include criteria that would give priority consideration to program applicants who have 3 years of experience providing health care services to medically underserved populations or in a medically underserved area, as defined. The bill would require the guidelines to give priority to applicants who agree to practice in those areas and serve a medically underserved population, and would require the guidelines to give priority consideration to applicants from rural communities who agree to practice in a physician owned and operated medical practice setting, as defined. Existing law requires the foundation, in consultation with the Medical Board of California, Office of Statewide Planning and Development, and an advisory committee, to use guidelines developed by the Medical Board of California for selection and placement of applicants until the office adopts other guidelines by regulation. This bill would instead require the foundation and the office to develop guidelines using specified criteria for selection and placement of applicants. Existing law defines "practice setting," for these purposes, to include a community clinic, as defined, a clinic owned and operated by a public hospital and health system, or a clinic owned and operated by a hospital that maintains the primary contract with a county government to fulfill the county's role to serve its indigent population and that is located in a medically underserved area and has at least 50% of its patients from that population. Existing law also defines "practice setting," for these purposes, to include a medical practice located in a medically underserved area and at least 50% of whose patients are from a medically underserved population. This bill would delete the latter definition and instead include a physician owned and operated medical practice setting that provides primary care located in a medically underserved area and has a minimum of 50% of patients who are uninsured, Medi-Cal beneficiaries, or beneficiaries of another publicly funded program that serves patients who earn less than 250% of the federal poverty level, within this definition of "practice setting."
This measure would designate December 4, 2013, as Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court Day.