Sen. Mark DeSaulnier

Under the California Constitution, the Legislature by rollcall vote entered in the journal, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring, may submit at a general election the question whether to call a convention to revise the Constitution. If the majority vote yes on that question, within 6 months the Legislature is required to provide for the convention. This measure would propose that the people of the State of California vote at the next statewide general election on the question of whether to call a convention to revise the California Constitution.

(1) The Community Redevelopment Law requires that each redevelopment agency submit the final report of any audit undertaken by any other local, state, or federal government entity to its legislative body and to additionally present an annual report to the legislative body containing specified information. This bill would require the agency to include additional information relating to any major audit violations, as defined, any corrections to those violations, and planning and general administrative expenses of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. The bill would authorize the Controller to conduct quality control reviews of independent financial audit reports and require the Controller to publish the results of his or her reviews. The bill would require the Controller to comply with certain notification and referral provisions in the event that the audit was conducted in a manner that may constitute unprofessional conduct. The bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct audits of redevelopment agencies to ensure compliance with the housing provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law. The bill would require each agency to annually deposit 0.05% of any tax increment deposited into the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund into the Redevelopment Agency Accountability Fund, which the bill would create, to fund the department audits. (2) Existing law requires that funds used for purposes of increasing, improving, and preserving a community's supply of low- and moderate-income housing be held in a separate Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund until used. Existing law limits the planning and general administrative costs which may be paid with moneys from the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. The bill would revise the costs and expenses which may be considered planning and general administrative costs for the purposes of being paid from the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. Except as provided, the bill would prohibit an agency from expending more than 15% of the tax increment deposited in the fund for planning and general administrative costs. The bill would impose other reporting and accountability measures on agencies with respect to the use of moneys in the fund for planning and administrative purposes. The bill would revise various provisions governing an action to compel agency compliance with specified provisions. (3) Existing law requires, except as specified, each agency to expend over each 10-year period of the implementation plan, the moneys in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund to assist housing for persons of moderate, low, and very low income according to specified calculations. The bill would instead require that at least 75% of the agency's expenditures from the fund directly assist the new construction, acquisition and substantial rehabilitation, or preservation of housing for persons of extremely low, very low, low, or moderate income, with at least 25% of the expenditures required to be directed towards housing for persons of extremely low income and at least 50% of the expenditures required to be directed towards housing for persons of very low income. (4) Existing law authorizes a redevelopment agency to merge project areas under its jurisdiction, and requires that at least 20% of specified taxes allocated to the redevelopment agency be deposited into the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund to assist in the construction or rehabilitation of housing units for very low, and low- and moderate-income households, as specified. Existing law requires that if those funds have not been committed for that purpose within 6 years, the agency shall offer the funds to the housing authority that operates within the jurisdiction of the agency, as specified. This bill would delete the requirement that the funds be offered to the housing authority. (5) Existing law requires an agency that has failed to expend or encumber excess surplus in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund within one year to disburse the surplus voluntarily to the appropriate county housing authority or another public agency or to expend or encumber the surplus within 2 additional years. The bill would delete these provisions. The bill would modify the definition of the term "excess surplus." (6) Existing law provides that whenever low- or moderate-income housing dwelling units are destroyed or removed from the low- and moderate-income housing market as part of a redevelopment that is subject to a written agreement with the agency, or where financial assistance has been provided by the agency, the agency is required to provide replacement housing within 4 years of the destruction or removal. The bill would modify the agency's obligation to provide replacement housing to low- or moderate-income persons and families and would impose new requirements on the agency with respect to the replacement housing plan and housing specifications. If a court has found that an agency has failed to comply with these provisions, the bill would require the court, at a minimum, to issue an order temporarily prohibiting the agency from issuing any debt for any project area, except as specified.

This measure would memorialize the Congress and the President of the United States to respect the rights of states to protect the health of their citizens, including children and pregnant women, and to not enact the federal Chemical Safety Improvement Act in its current form containing provisions that provide for the preemption of a state's authority to protect the public from toxic substances and other harmful chemicals.

Existing law requires the Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District and all known entities planning to implement a toll facility, to develop and adopt functional specifications and standards for an automatic vehicle identification system, as specified, and generally requires any automatic vehicle identification system purchased or installed after January 1, 1991, to comply with those specifications and standards. Existing federal law, pursuant to the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, requires all toll facilities on federal-aid highways to implement technologies or business practices that provide for the interoperability of electronic toll collection programs no later than a specified date. This bill would authorize the Department of Transportation and local and regional transportation agencies with existing or planned toll facilities to conduct a pilot project that uses automated toll collection technologies as an alternative to the existing radio-frequency identification tolling technology, in order to identify opportunities to facilitate lower cost tolling infrastructure, lower related operating costs, and more rapid deployment of high-occupancy toll lane networks. The bill would allow the test of tolling technologies that may not meet the interoperability requirements in existing law. The bill would authorize pilot projects in that regard for a period of up to 4 years. The bill would require any vendor participating in a pilot project to cover all related costs incurred by the participating agency. The bill would require each participating agency to make a specified report within 4 years of commencement of the pilot project to the Governor and the Legislature.

(1) Existing law classifies certain controlled substances into designated schedules. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) for the electronic monitoring of the prescribing and dispensing of Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled substances by all practitioners authorized to prescribe or dispense these controlled substances. Existing law requires specified information regarding prescriptions for Schedule II, Schedule III, and Schedule IV controlled substances, including the ultimate user of the prescribed controlled substance and the National Drug Code number of the controlled substance dispensed, to be reported to the Department of Justice. This bill would additionally require the prescribing and dispensing of Schedule V controlled substances to be monitored in CURES and would require specified information regarding prescriptions for Schedule V controlled substances to be reported to the Department of Justice. (2) Existing law requires licensed health care practitioners, as specified, and pharmacists to apply to the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information contained in the CURES Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) regarding the controlled substance history of a patient under his or her care. Existing law requires the Department of Justice, upon approval of that application, to provide to that health care practitioner or pharmacist the history of controlled substances dispensed to an individual under his or her care. This bill would also authorize an individual designated to investigate a holder of a professional license to apply to the Department of Justice to obtain approval to access information contained in the CURES PDMP regarding the controlled substance history of a licensee for the purpose of investigating the alleged substance abuse of a licensee. The bill would, upon approval of that application, require the department to provide to that individual the history of controlled substances dispensed to the applicant or licensee. (3) Existing law generally requires, subject to specified exceptions, that a prescription for Schedule II, Schedule III, Schedule IV, or Schedule V controlled substances be made on a certain controlled substance prescription form and meet several requirements, including that the prescription be signed and dated by the prescriber in ink. Existing law authorizes, as an exception to that requirement, a Schedule III, Schedule IV, or Schedule V controlled substance to be dispensed upon an oral or electronically transmitted prescription, which must be produced in hard copy form and signed and dated by the pharmacist filling the prescription or another authorized person. This bill would instead require, subject to specified exceptions, commencing January 1, 2016, that a prescription for a controlled substance be made by an electronically transmitted prescription that complies with regulations promulgated by the Drug Enforcement Agency, which, except as specified, must be produced in hard copy form and signed and dated by the pharmacist filling the prescription or another authorized person. The bill would provide that those requirements apply to medical practices with 2 or fewer physicians and medical providers in underserved rural areas commencing January 1, 2017. (4) Existing law prohibits a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance from being refilled and prohibits a prescription for a Schedule III or IV controlled substance from being refilled more than 5 times and in an amount, for all refills of that prescription taken together, exceeding a 120-day supply. This bill would prohibit, subject to specified exceptions, a person from prescribing a controlled substance, or filling, compounding, or dispensing a prescription for a controlled substance, in a quantity exceeding a 30-day supply. The bill would also prohibit a person from issuing a prescription for a controlled substance, or from filling, compounding, or dispensing a prescription for a controlled substance, for an ultimate user for whom a previous prescription for that controlled substance was issued within the immediately preceding 30 days until the ultimate user has exhausted all but a 7-day supply of that controlled substance filled, compounded, or dispensed from the previous prescription.

Existing law requires the California Law Revision Commission to study, and limits the commission to studying, topics approved by resolution of the Legislature. Existing law requires the commission to examine statutes to discover defects and recommend reforms. This bill would establish the California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy and would require the institute to consult with certain entities, as specified, in order to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of, and to develop a ranking of, the effectiveness of crime prevention programs, rehabilitation programs, and recidivism reduction programs located in California. The bill would also authorized the institute to conduct additional research at the request of the Legislature. This bill would request the University of California to house the institute. The bill would become operative after a determination by the Director of Finance that sufficient private funds have been deposited with the state to fully support the startup and operational activities of the institute for one year, would be inoperative until funding is made available in the annual Budget Act, and would be repealed as of January 1, 2018.

Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the California Homes and Jobs Act of 2013. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that revenues from this fee be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and Community Development for deposit in the California Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund may be expended for supporting affordable housing, administering housing programs, and the cost of periodic audits, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce compliance with applicable prevailing wage requirements for specified public works projects that are funded by state bond proceeds. Moneys collected for this purpose are continuously appropriated to the department from the State Public Works Enforcement Fund to cover the costs of these monitoring and enforcement duties. This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce prevailing wage requirements for construction contracts for certain public works projects over $1,000,000, that are funded, in whole or in part, by the bill. The bill would authorize the department to charge each person or entity awarding a construction contract for the reasonable and directly related costs of the monitoring and enforcement activities, and would require the department to deposit the moneys collected into the State Public Works Enforcement Fund. The bill would exempt projects with a collective bargaining agreement with a mechanism for resolution of wage disputes from this requirement. By establishing a new source of revenue for a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. 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.

Existing law generally defines "public work" as construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds; work done for irrigation, utility, reclamation, and improvement districts, and other districts of this type; street, sewer, or other improvement work done under the direction and supervision or by the authority of any officer or public body of the state or of any political subdivision or district thereof, and public transportation demonstration projects, as specified. Existing law, the Public Works Project Peer Review Act of 2013, authorizes a public agency principally tasked with administering, planning, developing, and operating a public works project to establish a peer review group, as defined. If a peer review group is established, existing law requires the administering agency to draft a charter, published on the agency's Internet Web site, related to the duties of the peer review group. This bill would authorize these provisions, instead, to be known and cited as the Public Works Project Oversight Improvement Act. The bill would define a "megaproject" as a transportation project with total estimated development and construction costs exceeding $2,500,000,000. The bill would require the agency administering a megaproject to establish a peer review group and to take specified actions to manage the risks associated with a megaproject including establishing a comprehensive risk management plan, and regularly reassessing its reserves for potential claims and unknown risks. The bill would require the agency administering a megaproject to make available to the public via its Internet Web site a list of all engineers in responsible charge of work related to the megaproject. Because this bill would require local agencies to perform additional duties, 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, 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.

The Community Redevelopment Law authorizes the establishment of redevelopment agencies in communities to address the effects of blight, as defined. Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies and community development agencies, as of February 1, 2012, and provides for the designation of successor agencies. Existing law provides for various economic development programs that foster community sustainability and community and economic development initiatives throughout the state. This bill would authorize certain public entities of a Sustainable Communities Investment Area, as described, to form a Sustainable Communities Investment Authority (authority) to carry out the Community Redevelopment Law in a specified manner. The bill would require the authority to adopt a Sustainable Communities Investment Plan for a Sustainable Communities Investment Area and authorize the authority to include in that plan a provision for the receipt of tax increment funds provided that certain economic development and planning requirements are met. The bill would authorize the legislative body of a city or county forming an authority to dedicate any portion of its net available revenue, as defined, to the authority through its Sustainable Communities Investment Plan. The bill would require the authority to contract for an independent financial and performance audit every 5 years. The bill would establish prequalification requirements for entities that will receive more than $1,000,000 from the Sustainable Communities Investment Authority and would require the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce compliance with prevailing wage requirements for specified projects within a Sustainable Communities Investment Area. The bill would deposit moneys received by the department from developer charges related to the costs of monitoring and enforcement in the State Public Works Enforcement Fund. By depositing a new source of revenue in the State Public Works Enforcement Fund, a continuously appropriated special fund, the bill would make an appropriation.