Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Those laws provide various exemptions from those taxes, including, until July 1, 2023, an exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products, defined as tampons, specified sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, beginning on May 15, 2020, to estimate the total dollar amount of revenue that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax exemption for menstrual hygiene products and requires the Controller to transfer that amount from the General Fund to the Local Revenue Fund 2011, a continuously appropriated fund, no later than June 30 of each fiscal year. This bill would establish a similar exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products beginning July 1, 2023, and would define menstrual hygiene products to additionally include menstrual underwear. The bill would provide that the Department of Finance is required to calculate, and the Controller is required to transfer, the total dollar amount of revenue prior to January 1, 2024, that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax with respect to menstrual hygiene products, as specified. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Sponsored bills
Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies as of February 1, 2012, and designates successor agencies to, among other things, continue to make payments due for enforceable obligations and expeditiously wind down the affairs of those redevelopment agencies. Existing law requires that each successor agency have an oversight board, composed of 7 members as specified, and sets forth the powers and duties of the oversight board with respect to the successor agency. Existing law requires the oversight board to review, approve, and transmit to the Department of Finance and the county auditor-controller the determination of the amount of cash and cash equivalents that are available for disbursement to taxing entities as determined according to the method provided in connection with a due diligence review. Existing law authorizes the Department of Finance to adjust that amount and requires that it complete its review and notify the oversight board and successor agency of its decision to overturn any oversight board authorizations within specified time periods. Existing law requires the department to meet and confer with a successor agency or entity that created a former redevelopment agency that requests a meet and confer to resolve disputes regarding the amounts or sources of funds identified as determined by the department. Existing law requires the department to issue a finding of completion to the successor agency upon payment of specified amounts, but prohibits a successor agency that fails by December 31, 2015, to pay or enter into a written installment payment plan with the department for the payment of the amounts determined by the department, or as specified, from ever receiving a finding of completion. This bill would, notwithstanding that prohibition, authorize the successor agency in the City of Hercules, with the approval of the department, to be eligible for a finding of completion if it has entered into an agreed-upon written installment payment plan with the department and is in compliance with that plan. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Hercules.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that specified injuries sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. This bill would define "injury," for a hospital employee who provides direct patient care in an acute care hospital, to include infectious diseases, musculoskeletal injuries, and respiratory diseases, as defined. The bill would create rebuttable presumptions that these injuries that develop or manifest in a hospital employee who provides direct patient care in an acute care hospital arose out of and in the course of the employment. The bill would extend these presumptions for specified time periods after the hospital employee's termination of employment. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
Existing law authorizes a life or disability income insurer to decline a life or disability income insurance application or enrollment request on the basis of positive test results from certain tests, known as the ELISA test and the Western Blot Assay, that detect antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) , performed by or at the direction of the insurer. This bill, to become operative January 1, 2023, would instead prohibit an insurer from declining an application or enrollment request for coverage under a policy or certificate for life insurance or disability income insurance based solely on the results of a positive HIV test, regardless of when or at whose direction the test was performed. However, the bill would not prevent or restrict an insurer from refusing to insure an applicant that is HIV positive, limiting the amount, extent, or kind of coverage for an applicant that is HIV positive, or charging a different rate to an applicant that is HIV positive, if the refusal, limitation, or charge is based on sound actuarial principals and actual or reasonably anticipated experience. The bill would define "HIV test" for purposes of these provisions to mean any clinical test, laboratory or otherwise, used to identify HIV, a component of HIV, or antibodies or antigens to HIV. Existing law imposes a civil penalty on a person who negligently or willfully discloses results of an HIV antibody test to any third party, except pursuant to written authorization or informed consent, in a manner that identifies or provides identifying characteristics of the person to whom the test results apply. Under existing law, the penalty for a negligent violation of those provisions is civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000 plus court costs, and the penalty for a willful violation of those provisions is a civil penalty in an amount not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 plus court costs. If the negligent or willful disclosure results in economic, bodily, or psychological harm to the subject of the test, existing law makes the person guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law defines "HIV antibody test" for these purposes to mean an ELISA test or a Western Blot Assay, or both. This bill would eliminate the references to HIV antibody test for purposes of those civil and criminal penalty provisions and instead would impose penalties for the negligent, willful, or malicious disclosure of results of an HIV test, as defined above. The bill would increase the civil penalty for a negligent violation of those provisions to an amount not to exceed $2,500 plus court costs and would increase the civil penalty for a willful violation of those provisions to an amount not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000 plus court costs. The bill would impose the same civil penalty for a malicious violation of those provisions as is provided for the willful violation. The bill would also increase the amount of the fine that may be imposed for a misdemeanor violation of those provisions to an amount not to exceed $25,000. By changing the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make conforming changes. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law establishes in state government the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency, each generally responsible for the sound fiscal management of each department, office, or other unit within the agency, as prescribed. Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture to, among other duties and authorities, promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law provides funds to the department, as specified, for grants to promote practices on farms and ranches that improve agricultural and open-space soil health, carbon soil sequestration, erosion control, water quality, and water retention. Existing law establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, requires the board to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. This bill would require, no later than July 1, 2021, that the Natural Resources Agency, in coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency, the board, and the department establish carbon sequestration goals for natural and working lands, as defined. The bill would require the board to include specified carbon dioxide removal targets as part of its scoping plan. (2) Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and Research as the comprehensive state planning agency to, among other duties and authorities, engage in the formulation, evaluation, and updating of long-range goals and policies for land use, population growth and distribution, urban expansion, development, open space, resource preservation and utilization, air and water quality, and other factors that shape statewide development patterns and significantly influence the quality of the state's environment. This bill would require, beginning on January 1, 2021, that the office maintain a registry called the California Carbon Sequestration and Climate Resiliency Project Registry for the purposes of identifying and listing carbon sequestration projects in the state that are seeking funding from state agencies or private entities. The bill would require, no later than July 1, 2021, that the office, in collaboration with the Strategic Growth Council, create an application process for project applicants to have their carbon sequestration projects listed on the registry, with the office ensuring that these projects meet certain minimum criteria, as specified. The bill would require the office to establish a mechanism for removing these projects from the registry once funded and for tracking the outcomes of those projects, as specified. The bill would require project proponents to notify the office when a project is completed and provide monitoring and reporting data at least annually for the duration of the contract terms of the project. The bill would require the office to track carbon sequestration benefits of projects and report those benefits to the board for inclusion, as appropriate, in calculations pertaining to the state's greenhouse gas emissions goals.
The Trial Jury Selection and Management Act (act) requires all persons be selected for jury service at random and from sources inclusive of a representative cross section of the population of the area served by the court. The act specifies that the list of registered voters and list of licensed drivers and identification cardholders who are resident within the area served by the court are appropriate source lists for the selection of jurors, and further specifies that these 2 source lists, when substantially purged of duplicate names, are considered inclusive of a representative cross section of the population. This bill would require the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to semiannually furnish the jury commissioner of each county with a list of state tax filers, as defined, and include the list of state tax filers as source list for the purposes of jury selection. The bill would prohibit a jury commissioner, or an employee of the jury commissioner, from disclosing the information furnished by the FTB pursuant to this requirement.
Existing law, the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995 (the act) , prohibits a business establishment from discriminating against a person because of the person's gender with respect to the price charged for services of similar or like kind and specifies that this prohibition does not apply to price differences based specifically upon the amount of time, difficulty, or cost of providing the services. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment, or harassment on account of various personal characteristics. Under existing law, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing is responsible for receiving, investigating, conciliating, mediating, and prosecuting complaints alleging violations of specified civil rights. This bill would prohibit a business establishment from discriminating against a person because of a person's gender with respect to the price charged for any 2 consumer products from the same manufacturer that are substantially similar if those products are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whose use the products are intended or marketed, as specified. The bill would make the department responsible for receiving, investigating, conciliating, mediating, and prosecuting complaints alleging violations of these provisions.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill would require the state board, by December 31, 2022, as a part of the scoping plan, to prepare a strategic plan for accelerating the production and use of green electrolytic hydrogen in California and an analysis of how curtailed power could be better utilized to help meet the state's greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law requires the PUC and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to undertake specified actions to advance the state's clean energy and pollution reduction objectives, including, where feasible, cost effective, and consistent with other state policy objectives, increasing the use of large- and small-scale energy storage with a variety of technologies. Existing law specifies that green electrolytic hydrogen, as defined, is one of these energy storage technologies to be targeted for increased use and requires the PUC, state board, and Energy Commission to consider green electrolytic hydrogen an eligible form of energy storage, and to consider other potential uses of green electrolytic hydrogen. Existing law requires the PUC to identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy resources in a cost-effective manner. Existing law requires that the portfolio rely upon zero carbon-emitting resources to the maximum extent reasonable and be designed to achieve any statewide limit on emissions of greenhouse gases established by the state board pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. This bill would require the PUC to consider green electrolytic hydrogen to be a zero carbon-emitting resource for purposes of identifying a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy resources in a cost-effective manner. Existing law establishes a policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. Existing law requires the PUC, Energy Commission, and state board to utilize programs authorized under existing statutes to achieve this policy. This bill would require that the PUC, state board, and Energy Commission consider green electrolytic hydrogen to be a zero-carbon resource for these purposes.