Read. Adopted. (Page 2785.)
This resolution would recognize the month of January 2012, and each following January, as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and it would recognize February 1, 2012, and each following February 1, as California's Free From Slavery Day.
(1) Under the California Public Records Act, except for exempt records, every state and local agency, upon request, is required to make records available to any person. This bill would revise the definition of a state agency, for purposes of the act, to include the Assembly and the Senate. The bill would require that any budget, fund, or account of the Senate and Assembly, or other expenditure created in the annual Budget Act, as specified, constitutes a public document for purposes of the act. (2) The Legislative Open Records Act requires, among other things, that legislative records be open to inspection at all times and that any person has a right to inspect any legislative record, except as provided. The bill would repeal the Legislative Open Records Act.
The Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 provides, in part, that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, on account of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation. This bill would repeal the provision entitling the act the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, and would instead state the findings of the Legislature that the above-described provision was enacted as part of the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976.
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 adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. The state board is authorized to adopt market-based compliance mechanisms, as defined, meeting specified requirements to be used for compliance with those regulations. This bill would require the state board to adopt a compliance offset protocol that meets specified criteria if the state board adopts a cap-and-trade program that allows the use of offsets for compliance under the cap-and-trade program.
Existing law requires the Legislature to make an annual appropriation to the Judicial Council for the general operations of the trial courts based on the request of the Judicial Council, which is submitted to the Governor and the Legislature. The Judicial Council is required to allocate the funding for trial court operations to the trial courts in a manner that best ensures the ability of the courts to carry out their functions, promotes implementation of statewide policies, and promotes the immediate implementation of efficiencies and cost-saving measures in court operations, in order to guarantee access to justice to citizens of the state. Existing law requires the Controller to apportion trial court funding payments to the individual trial courts pursuant to the allocation schedule adopted by the Judicial Council, as specified. This bill would, among other things, delete the provisions relating to the manner in which the Judicial Council allocates funding for trial court operations, and would instead require that the amount allocated to each trial court from the amount appropriated for trial court operations be equal to the pro rata share of the prior fiscal year's adjusted base budget, except as provided. The bill would require the Legislature, based on the information submitted in the Governor's proposed budget, and prior to the allocation of funds to each local trial court in accordance with the allocation schedule adopted by the Judicial Council, to specify, in each annual Budget Act, the funding amounts to be allocated for programs of statewide concern from the total funds appropriated for trial court operations by the Legislature. The bill would prohibit the Judicial Council, or its designee, from withholding or expending any portion of the total funds appropriated for trial court operations by the Legislature for any statewide information technology or administrative infrastructure program that was not identified in the annual Budget Act, unless the Judicial Council, or its designee, first obtains the written approval of 6623% of a proportional representation of all local trial courts. The bill would require the Judicial Council, or its designee, to allocate 100% of the funds appropriated for trial court operations according to each court's share of statewide operational funding. Existing law provides that the Judicial Council retains the ultimate responsibility to adopt a budget and allocate funding for the trial courts, as specified, and empowers the Judicial Council to authorize a trial court to carry unexpended funds over from one fiscal year to the next. This bill would delete those provisions and would instead provide that unexpended funds shall be the funds of that court, which may carry those funds over from one fiscal year to the next. The bill would prohibit those funds from being reallocated or redirected without the consent of the management of the trial court.
Existing law requires that various state agencies submit certain reports to the Legislature and other state agencies. This bill would eliminate the requirement that certain state agencies submit certain reports to the Legislature and other state agencies. This bill would make various conforming changes.
(1) Existing law prohibits the taking of private property without the payment of just compensation and permits a person to maintain an action in inverse condemnation for the purpose of obtaining compensation for a taking. Existing law applies the doctrine of comparative fault for the purpose of apportioning responsibility and reducing damages to the extent a plaintiff is found partially at fault. This bill would apply the doctrine of comparative fault to inverse condemnation actions and would require a court or arbitrator to reduce the compensation paid to a plaintiff in an inverse condemnation proceeding, in direct proportion to his or her percentage of fault, if any, in the damaging of property that constitutes a taking. The bill would make these provisions applicable only to inverse condemnation actions filed on or after January 1, 2013. (2) Existing law governs offers by a party to compromise a dispute that is to be resolved by trial or arbitration. Existing law provides in this regard, among other things, that if the defendant makes an offer that the plaintiff does not accept, and the plaintiff fails to obtain a more favorable judgment or award, the plaintiff is prohibited from recovering his or her postoffer costs and is required to pay the defendant's costs from the time of the offer. Existing law also awards to the plaintiff in an inverse condemnation proceeding reasonable costs actually incurred because of that proceeding in the trial court, or in any appellate proceeding, in which the plaintiff prevails on any issue in that proceeding. This bill would provide, notwithstanding the latter provision, that if the defendant in an inverse condemnation action filed on or after January 1, 2013, makes an offer that the plaintiff does not accept, and the plaintiff fails to obtain a judgment or award, the plaintiff shall not recover his or her postoffer costs and shall pay the defendant's postoffer costs. Additionally, the bill would provide that the plaintiff may be required to pay the defendant's costs for expert witnesses. Alternatively, if the plaintiff rejects the offer and fails to obtain a more favorable judgment or award, the bill would prohibit the plaintiff from recovering his or her postoffer costs, but would provide that the plaintiff shall not be ordered to pay the defendant's postoffer costs.
This measure would designate that January 16, 2012, be observed as the official memorial of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth, commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.
Read. Adopted. (Page 2655.)
Read. Adopted. (Ayes 31. Noes 0. Page 2591.)
(1) Under the Public Utilities Act, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The Public Utilities Act requires the PUC to require, until January 1, 2012, an electrical corporation to identify a separate electrical rate component (public goods charge) to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy, and research, development, and demonstration programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. A violation of the Public Utilities Act is a crime. This bill would extend this requirement to January 1, 2020. Because a violation of this requirement is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill also would, commencing on January 1, 2012, increase the amount of funds the PUC would require an electrical corporation to collect for these purposes. This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. The bill would provide that if the Legislature finds that moneys collected on or after January 1, 2012, are not used for the above-specified purposes, the collection of those moneys would cease at the end of the calendar year in which the Legislature made that finding. (2) Existing law requires that the moneys collected between January 1, 2007, and January 1, 2012, from the electrical corporations for public interest research, development, and demonstration projects be deposited in the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Fund and be used for the purposes of the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration, Program. This bill would enact the Clean Energy Jobs and Investment Act. This bill would expressly provide that the public goods charge for public interest research, development, and demonstration projects collected before January 1, 2012, be deposited into the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Fund and expended for the purposes of the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Program. The bill would establish the Clean Energy Innovation Program Fund in the State Treasury and would require public goods charge collected on and after January 1, 2012, to be deposited into the Clean Energy Innovation Program Fund and expended by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , upon appropriation, for specified purposes. (3) Existing law requires the Energy Commission to establish programs to optimize public investment and ensure that the most cost-effective and efficient investments in renewable energy resources are vigorously pursued (Renewable Energy Resources Program) . Existing law requires, until January 1, 2012, that moneys from the public goods charge collected for renewable energy be transferred to the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for the purpose of implementing the program. This bill would revise and recast the Renewable Energy Resources Program to, among other things, provide investment in energy storage technologies. The bill would extend to January 1, 2020, the transfer of the public goods charge collected for renewable energy to the Renewable Resource Trust Fund. The bill would provide that moneys in the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be expended for the purposes of the program. (4) Decisions of the PUC adopted the California Solar Initiative (CSI) . Existing law requires the PUC to undertake certain steps in implementing the CSI. Existing law requires the PUC to ensure that the total cost of the CSI over the duration of the program does not exceed $3,350,000,000, including $400,000,000 from the Emerging Renewable Resources Account within the Renewable Resource Trust Fund, for programs for the installation of solar energy systems, as defined, on new construction administered by the Energy Commission (New Solar Homes Partnership) . This bill would provide that the $400,000,000 referenced above be subject to supervision by the PUC. The bill would require the Energy Commission to revise its guidelines applicable to the New Solar Homes Partnership so that the program accomplishes specified matter. (5) The bill would not become operative unless SB 870 of the 2011–12 Regular Session of the Legislature is enacted on or before January 1, 2012. (6) 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. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
