(1) Existing law, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Act, until January 1, 2029, establishes the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority to raise and allocate resources for the restoration, enhancement, protection, and enjoyment of wetlands and wildlife habitat in the San Francisco Bay and along its shoreline. The act establishes a governing board of the authority composed of specified members, including a member who is a resident of the San Francisco Bay area with expertise in the implementation of the San Francisco Bay Conservancy Program, who serves as the chair. The act grants to the board all powers that are necessary to carry out the act, including, among other things, the power to levy specified benefit assessments, special taxes, and property-related fees, and to issue revenue bonds and general obligation bonds. However, the act limits the total amount of outstanding indebtedness incurred pursuant to those provisions authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds to 10% of the authority's total revenues in the preceding fiscal year. Existing law generally requires a district to reimburse the county elections official for the actual costs incurred in conducting an election for the district. However, the act authorizes, until January 1, 2017, the authority to reimburse only the incremental costs, as defined, that are incurred by the county elections official related to submitting a special tax measure to the voters. This bill would delete the requirement that one member of the board, who serves as the chair, be a resident of the San Francisco Bay area with expertise in the implementation of the San Francisco Bay Conservancy Program and would instead require that member to be an elected official of a bayside city or county, or an elected member of a special district, with expertise in the implementation of the San Francisco Bay Conservancy Program. The bill would also delete the limit on the authority's total amount of outstanding general obligation bonded indebtedness and would, instead, prohibit the authority from having a total amount of outstanding bonded indebtedness that exceeds $1,500,000,000. The bill would specify that the authority may incur general obligation bonded indebtedness for the acquisition or improvement of real property or for the funding or refunding of any outstanding bonded indebtness incurred by the authority. The bill would extend to January 1, 2019, the operation of the provision authorizing the authority to reimburse county elections officials for only the incremental costs of submitting a special tax measure to the voters, expanded to apply to other specified measures that would generate revenues for the authority. The bill would postpone to January 1, 2049, the repeal date for the act, and would make related conforming changes. By imposing additional duties on local government officials with regard to implementation of the act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The act specifies that the special taxes are to be levied, and submitted to the voters, consistent with specified provisions of the California Constitution relating to voter approval for local tax levies and property-related fees, charges, and assessments. This bill would instead specify that measures that will generate revenues are to be submitted to the voters, consistent with those requirements of the California Constitution and the requirements of the California Constitution relating to general obligation bond indebtedness and ad valorem taxes. (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.
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The California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 authorizes the State Lands Commission to enter into a lease for the extraction of oil or gas from state-owned tide and submerged lands in the California Coastal Sanctuary if the commission determines that the oil or gas deposits are being drained by means of producing wells upon adjacent federal lands and the lease is in the best interest of the state. This bill would enact the California Coastal Protection Act of 2015, which would delete this authorization. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.
Existing law, the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, enacted by initiative statute, establishes the After School Education and Safety Program to serve pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 9, inclusive, at participating public elementary, middle, junior high, and charter schools. The act provides that each school establishing a program pursuant to the act is eligible to receive a renewable 3-year grant for before or after school programs, as provided, and a grant for operating a program beyond 180 regular schooldays or during summer, weekend, intersession, or vacation periods, as provided. The act specifies the maximum grant amount and related amounts for each of these grants, provides a formula for determining an amount to be continuously appropriated from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of the program, and authorizes the Legislature to appropriate additional funds for purposes of the program. Existing law requires applicants for grants to, among other things, state the targeted number of pupils to be served by the program, and requires the department, for any school in the program that is under its targeted attendance level by more than 15% in each of 2 consecutive years, to adjust the grant level, and, in any year after the initial grant year, if a school's actual attendance level falls below 75% of the targeted attendance level, to review the program and adjust its grant level as appropriate. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2016, and until July 1, 2017, authorize a program to suspend its operation for up to 5 schooldays in a fiscal year and would prohibit an adjustment of the grant provided to the participating school as a result of a suspension. The bill would require that cost savings that result from a suspension be used solely by the entity that is providing direct services to pupils. The bill would also authorize the program to determine the specific grades to serve in accordance with local needs. Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature that, for the before and after school components of the program, participating middle school and junior high school pupils should attend a minimum number of hours, days, or both, as specified, while elementary school pupils should participate in the full day of these components of the program for each day in which they participate, except as provided. This bill would instead express the intent of the Legislature that each attending pupil participate in the full day of the before or after school components of the program for each day in which the pupil attends the program, except as provided. The After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002 authorizes the Legislature to amend certain of its provisions to further its purposes by majority vote of each house. This bill would set forth a legislative finding and declaration that this bill furthers the purposes of that act.
Existing law requires the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board to administer a program to assist state residents to obtain compensation for their pecuniary losses suffered as a direct result of criminal acts. Payment is made under these provisions from the Restitution Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the board for these purposes. Existing law requires the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board to administer a program to evaluate applications and award grants to trauma recovery centers funded by moneys in the Restitution Fund. This bill would make legislative findings and recognize the Trauma Recovery Center at San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, as the State Pilot Trauma Recovery Center (State Pilot TRC) . The bill would require the board to use the evidence-based Integrated Trauma Recovery Services model developed by the State Pilot TRC when it provides grants to trauma recovery centers.
Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing federal law requires that a child receiving benefits under SNAP be certified as eligible for free school lunches and breakfasts without further application. Existing law requires a county welfare department to compile a list of emergency food providers and make that list available upon request. This bill would instead require a county human services agency to compile a list of emergency and supplemental food assistance providers, as specified. The bill would also require a county human services agency to inform households applying for CalFresh that if the household is certified for CalFresh, specified children in the household are income-eligible for the WIC Program and all children in the household are directly certified for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program without further application. The bill would also require the Department of Social Services to inform all CalFresh households annually, prior to the end of the school year, about the summer meal program using information the department receives the State Department of Education and a method deemed appropriate by the department. The bill would require the department to implement these provisions by all-county letters or similar instructions beginning no later than March 1, 2016, until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt regulations on or before October 1, 2017. The bill would also include a statement of legislative findings and declarations. By increasing the duties of county human services agencies, 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.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to develop a high school exit examination in English language arts and mathematics in accordance with state academic content standards. Existing law requires, commencing with the 2003–04 school year and each school year thereafter, each pupil completing grade 12 to successfully pass the high school exit examination as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school. This bill would provide that the high school exit examination shall not be required as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school for a pupil completing grade 12 in 2015 and who has met all other high school graduation requirements. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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. Existing law provides for, among other things, information to be included in a corporation's bylaws, definitions necessary for purposes of defining patrons, and requirements as to voting rights of members. Except as specified, existing law requires that the voting power of members having voting rights in a cooperative corporation be equal. Existing law also requires cooperative corporations to hold a meeting of members annually. Existing law makes the violation of specified provisions a crime. This bill would rename the law the Cooperative Corporation Law, and authorize a cooperative corporation to elect to designate itself as a worker cooperative in its articles of incorporation. The bill would require that 51% of the workers shall be worker-members or candidates. The bill would authorize a worker cooperative to apportion and distribute its net earnings and losses at the time and in the manner specified in the articles of incorporation or bylaws. The bill would require a worker cooperative to only make patronage distributions to the worker-member class. The bill would define the patrons of a worker cooperative as worker-members and authorize their patronage to be measured by work performed. The bill would authorize a worker cooperative to issue a membership, that is not divisible into partial memberships, having the rights, privileges, preferences, restrictions, or conditions as provided in the articles or bylaws. This bill would also authorize a worker cooperative to establish itself as a capital account cooperative in its articles or bylaws, in which case the entire net book value of the corporation would be reflected in member capital accounts, one for each member, and an unallocated capital account, if any, as specified. This bill would also authorize a worker cooperative to establish itself as a collective board worker cooperative, in which all worker-members serve on the board. A collective board worker cooperative would not be required to hold an annual meeting of members. This bill would authorize 2 or more worker cooperatives to consolidate, as specified, prescribe the actions to be taken upon the dissolution of a worker cooperative, and make other conforming changes. The Corporate Securities Law of 1968 generally regulates the offer and sale of securities in this state. That law requires the offer and sale of securities to be qualified with the Commissioner of Business Oversight, and exempts specified transactions or securities from qualification. That law makes it unlawful for a person in connection with the offer or sale of a security to engage in fraudulent or misleading acts or omissions. The shares or memberships by a corporation subject to the Consumer Cooperative Corporation Law are exempt from the qualification requirement, if the investment does not exceed $300. The bill would increase the investment limitation of the above-referenced exemption from qualification from $300 to $1,000.
Existing law provides that the supervision, management, and control of the state prisons, and the responsibility for the care, custody, treatment, training, discipline, and employment of persons confined therein are vested in the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Existing law requires the Secretary to establish the Case Management Reentry Pilot Program for specified offenders who are likely to benefit from a case management reentry strategy. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to submit a final report of the findings from its evaluation of the pilot program to the Legislature and the Governor by a specified date. This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to submit a final report of the findings from its evaluation of the Case Management Reentry Pilot Program to the Legislature and the Governor by no later than July 31, 2017. The bill would also require the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop a Data Dashboard on a quarterly basis containing specified information regarding each institution, including, among other information, the total budget, including actual expenditures, staff vacancies and the number of authorized staff positions, overtime, sick leave, and the number of use of force incidents, and to post those reports on the department's Internet Web site, as provided.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District's (BART) system to elect to obtain electricity from multiple sources, including (1) preference power purchased from a federal power marketing agency or its successor, (2) electricity supplied by one or more direct transactions, and (3) electricity supplied by any electric utility regulated by the commission that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity at one or more locations to the BART District's system. Existing law requires any electrical corporation that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity to BART, upon request by BART, to deliver preference power purchased from a federal power marketing agency, or its successor, or deliver electricity purchased from a local publicly owned electric utility without discrimination or delay. This bill would additionally require any electrical corporation that owns and operates transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electricity to BART, upon request by BART, to deliver electricity generated by an eligible renewable energy resource without discrimination or delay. For these purposes, an "eligible renewable energy resource" would have the same meaning as defined in a specified provision of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program.
Existing law authorizes school districts to impose qualified special taxes, subject to specified constitutional and statutory provisions. Existing law defines "qualified special taxes" as taxes that apply uniformly to all taxpayers or all real property within a school district and may include taxes that provide for an exemption from those taxes for persons who are 65 years of age or older, for persons receiving Supplemental Security Income for a disability, or for persons receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, as specified. This bill would clarify that the authorization for an exemption from the qualified special taxes applies to any or all of the categories of persons described above. This bill would provide that this change is declaratory of existing law.