Existing property tax law establishes a partial welfare exemption for property used exclusively for rental housing and related facilities that are owned and operated by either of any certain types of nonprofit entities or veterans' organizations that meet specified exemption requirements, if either of certain qualifying criteria are met. Existing law requires the partial exemption to be equal to that percentage of the value of the property that the portion of the property serving lower income households represents of the total property in any year. Existing law requires the owner of the property, in order to be eligible for the exemption, to certify that the funds that would have been necessary to pay property taxes are used to maintain the affordability of, or reduce rents otherwise necessary for, the units occupied by lower income households. This bill would define "related facilities" for purposes of the exemption. This bill would provide that the partial exemption be equal to that percentage of the value of the property that is equal to the percentage that the number of units serving lower income households represents of the total number of residential units in any year. This bill would, on or after January 1, 2015, prohibit a local government from entering into a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with a property owner of a low-income housing project that is eligible for the exemption described above, and would make any PILOT agreement entered into in violation of this provision void and unenforceable. The bill would require any outstanding ad valorem tax, interest, or penalty that was levied between January 1, 2012, and January 1, 2015, inclusive, as a result of a PILOT agreement to be canceled, and any tax, interest, or penalty, as so levied, that was paid prior to January 1, 2015, to be refunded. The bill would prohibit an escape or supplemental assessment from being levied on the basis that payments made under a PILOT agreement were, or are being, used in a manner incompatible with the certification requirement. This bill would become operative only if AB 1761 of the 2013–14 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2015.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law grants to the City of Martinez all right, title, and interest of the state to 3 specified parcels of land in the Straits of Carquinez, to be held in trust for specified uses. The Kapiloff Land Bank Act creates the Land Bank Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund, subject to a statutory trust, to the State Lands Commission, acting as the Land Bank Trustee, to acquire real property or any interest in real property for the purposes of public trust title settlements. This bill would repeal that grant of trust lands to the City of Martinez and would instead provide for a new grant of trust lands to the City of Martinez that would include an additional 4th parcel. The bill would require the trust lands to be held by the city, as trustee, for the benefit of all the people of the state for purposes consistent with the public trust doctrine, including the protection of maritime or water-dependent commerce, navigation, and fisheries, the preservation of the lands in their natural state for scientific study, open space, wildlife habitat, and water-oriented recreation. The bill would authorize the city to lease trust lands under specified conditions for purposes consistent with the grant. The bill would require the City of Martinez to submit to the commission by January 1, 2020, for its approval, a trust lands use plan, as prescribed. The bill would require the city to file with the commission by September 30, 2025, and every 5 years thereafter, a detailed report of its trust lands uses and, an annual statement of trust revenues and expenditures that meets specified requirements. The bill would require the city to file a specific document with the commission before expending trust revenues for any single capital improvement on the trust lands greater than $250,000 and would prohibit that expenditure of funds if the commission determines it is not authorized. The bill would require, commencing June 30, 2015, and at the end of every fiscal year thereafter, and subject to an exception, that 20% of all gross revenues generated from the trust lands be transmitted to the commission, for allocation by the Treasurer, of which 80% would be deposited in the General Fund and 20% in the Land Bank Fund, thereby making an appropriation. By imposing new duties on the City of Martinez with respect to the trust lands, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , enacts various reforms to the health insurance market. Among other things, PPACA requires a nongrandfathered group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual insurance coverage to provide coverage, without imposing cost-sharing requirements, for certain preventive services, including those preventive care and screenings for women provided in specified guidelines. PPACA requires those plans and issuers to provide coverage without cost sharing for all federal Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity, as prescribed by a provider, except as specified. 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 Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides coverage for outpatient prescription drug benefits to provide coverage for a variety of federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved prescription contraceptive methods designated by the plan or insurer, except as specified. Existing law authorizes a religious employer, as defined, to request a contract or policy without coverage of FDA-approved contraceptive methods that are contrary to the employer's religious tenets and, if so requested, requires a contract or policy to be provided without that coverage. Existing law requires an individual or small group health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2014, to cover essential health benefits, which are defined to include the health benefits covered by particular benchmark plans. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive specified health care services, including family planning services, subject to certain utilization controls. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2016, to provide coverage for women for all prescribed and FDA-approved female contraceptive drugs, devices, and products, as well as voluntary sterilization procedures, contraceptive education and counseling, and related followup services. The bill would prohibit a nongrandfathered plan contract or health insurance policy from imposing any cost-sharing requirements or other restrictions or delays with respect to this coverage, as specified. The bill would include Medi-Cal managed plans, as specified, in the definition of a health care service plan for purposes of these provisions. The bill would retain the provision authorizing a religious employer to request a contract or policy without coverage of FDA-approved contraceptive methods that are contrary to the employer's religious tenets. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require utilization controls for family planning services for Medi-Cal managed care plans to be subject to the cost-sharing requirements described above. 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 provides for the imposition of registration fees on motor vehicles, including additional, specified fees imposed by local agencies for transportation-related purposes. This bill would authorize a city, county, or regional park district to impose and collect, as a special tax, a motor vehicle registration surcharge of not more than $5 for bicycle infrastructure purposes until January 1, 2025. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to administer the surcharge and to transmit the net revenues from the surcharge to the local agency. The bill would require the local agency to use these revenues for improvements to paved and natural surface trails and bikeways, including existing and new trails and bikeways and other bicycle facilities, and for associated maintenance purposes. The bill would limit to 5% the amount of net revenues that may be used by the local agency for its administrative expenses in implementing these provisions. The bill would require a local agency that imposes the $5 surcharge to submit an annual fiscal yearend report to the Legislature that includes, among other things, the total net revenues received and expended during the previous fiscal year and a summary of the infrastructure and projects funded by the surcharge.
Existing law authorizes the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements and specified limits on the amount of compensation the board may award. Existing law requires the board to deny an application if the board finds that the victim or derivative victim failed to cooperate reasonably with a law enforcement agency in the apprehension and conviction of a criminal committing the crime. However, existing law specifies that an application for compensation cannot be denied pursuant to that provision solely on the basis of specified behavior by the victim, such as failure to make a police report. This bill would prohibit denial of an application for compensation under the above circumstances with respect to a claim based on sexual assault, as defined, committed by military personnel against military personnel, solely because the sexual assault was not reported to a superior officer or law enforcement at the time of the crime. The bill would set forth types of evidence of sexual assault the board would be required to consider in these cases, for purposes of determining if a claim qualifies for compensation. The bill would require both the perpetrator, as defined, and the victim to be active duty military personnel at the time the sexual assault occurred for these provisions to apply. By expanding the authorization for the use of moneys in the continuously appropriated Restitution Fund, this bill would make an appropriation.
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and support to individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. Existing law governs the habilitation services provided for adult consumers of regional centers, including work activity programs, as described, and establishes an hourly rate for supported employment services provided to consumers receiving individualized services. This bill would require the department, contingent upon receiving federal financial participation, to conduct a 4-year demonstration project to determine whether community-based vocational development services will increase employment outcomes for consumers and reduce purchase of service costs for working age adults, as specified. The bill would require the development and semiannual review of a plan, as specified, if community-based vocational development services, as defined, are determined to be a necessary step to achieve a supported employment outcome. The bill would establish an hourly rate for community-based vocational development services, for purposes of the demonstration project, of $40 per hour for a maximum of 75 hours per calendar quarter for all services identified and provided in the plan. The bill would provide that a consumer's hours of participation in community-based vocational development services may be provided in lieu of hours of participation in other community-based day program services, for up to 2 years, except as specified. The bill would require the department to publish a notice on the department's Internet Web site when the demonstration project has been implemented, and to make determinations and notify the Legislature concerning the project's effectiveness, as specified, at the project's conclusion. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2025. The bill would also set forth related legislative findings and declarations and a statement of legislative intent.
(1) Existing law prohibits the operation or navigation of a for-hire vessel, as defined, in the waters of California while carrying passengers, except by a person who holds a valid operator's license issued by the Division of Boating and Waterways. Under existing law, a person applying for an operator's license is required to undergo an examination, that may include, among other things, an inspection of the for-hire vessel. Existing law requires the division to approve boating safety courses and personal watercraft education courses, as specified. This bill would prohibit the operation of a vessel that is propelled by an engine in the waters of the state except by a person who is in possession of a valid vessel operator card developed and issued by the division, and would impose that prohibition on persons pursuant to a specified schedule. The bill would exempt certain persons from that requirement, as specified. The bill would require the division, on or before January 1, 2018, to develop vessel operator cards and issue a vessel operator card to a person who provides the division with proof that the person has passed a vessel operator examination and would authorize the division to develop an examination. The bill would require the division to provide links to approved examinations on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the division to charge specified fees for those cards, would establish the Vessel Operator Certification Account in the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund, and would require the fees to be deposited in that account. The bill would authorize the division to expend the moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the vessel operator card program. The bill would require an amount not to exceed $4,000,000 to be transferred, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, from the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund to the Vessel Operator Certification Account in the form of a loan to be used by the division to develop and establish the program. The bill would require the division to repay the loan from fees received from the issuance of vessel operator cards within 8 years of the effective date of this act. The bill would require the division on or before April 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, to prepare a report that contains specified information, including, among other things, the total number of vessel operator cards issued and the number of violations reported to the division. The bill would also require the division on or before April 1, 2023, and again on April 1, 2028, to post on its Internet Web site specified recommendations relating to the program. The bill would provide that a violation of the bill's provisions is an infraction, and would require a court to order a person who violates those provisions to complete and pass a boating safety course approved by the division. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes an individual to contribute amounts in excess of his or her tax liability for the support of specified funds, including the School Supplies for Homeless Children Fund. Existing law requires the moneys deposited in the School Supplies for Homeless Children Fund to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Education for the sole purpose of assisting pupils in California pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act by providing school supplies and health-related products to homeless children through competitive grant programs, as provided. This bill would instead require the same moneys, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the State Department of Social Services for distribution to a nonprofit organization, exempt from taxation, for the sole purpose of assisting pupils in California pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act by providing grants of school supplies and health-related products to partnering local education agencies, as provided. This bill would also allow those moneys to be used for local assistance expenditures. By authorizing a new purpose for those special funds, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes an individual to contribute amounts in excess of his or her tax liability for the support of specified funds. This bill would additionally allow an individual to designate on his or her tax return that a specified amount in excess of his or her tax liability be transferred to the California Sexual Violence Victim Services Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would prohibit a voluntary contribution designation for the California Sexual Violence Victim Services Fund from being added on the tax return until another voluntary contribution designation is removed or a space is available. The bill would require moneys in the California Sexual Violence Victim Services Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and the balance to the Office of Emergency Services for the distribution of grants to specified rape crisis centers. The bill would provide that these provisions would remain in effect only until January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the first appearance of the California Sexual Violence Victim Services Fund on the tax return, but would further provide for an earlier repeal if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will not equal or exceed the minimum contribution amount, as defined, for that calendar year, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year.
This measure would designate portions of State Highway Routes 1, 129, and 101 in the Counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz as the John Steinbeck Highway, the Senator Henry J. Mello Highway, the Oscar Rios Highway, and the Gateway to the Pinnacles Highway. This measure would also designate the interchange at Interstate 680 and Highway 24 in Contra Costa County as the CHP Officer Kenyon Youngstrom Memorial Interchange. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing each of these special designations and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost of the signs for which the donations were made, to erect those signs.