Existing law establishes procedures regarding the registration of voters. Under existing law, a person may not be registered to vote except by affidavit of registration, and a voter may not vote in an election unless his or her affidavit of registration is executed and received by the county elections official on or before the 15th day prior to the election. Existing law permits any registered voter to vote by a vote by mail ballot, and further permits any voter using a vote by mail ballot to vote the ballot at the office of the elections official beginning 29 days before the election. This bill would establish conditional voter registration, using an affidavit of registration, whereby a person would be permitted to register to vote after the 15th day prior to an election or on election day, and cast a provisional ballot to be counted if the conditional voter registration is deemed effective. This bill would provide that a conditional voter registration shall be deemed effective only if the county elections official is able to determine before or during the canvass period for the election that the registrant is eligible to register to vote and that the registrant has provided a form of identification deemed acceptable under the Help America Vote Act. If a conditional voter registration is not deemed effective pursuant to these new provisions, the elections official would be required to process the affidavit of registration as specified and, if the registrant meets all other eligibility requirements to vote, the registration would be deemed effective in forthcoming elections. The bill would require the county elections official to offer conditional voter registration and provisional voting at its permanent offices on election day, in accordance with specified procedures. The bill would also require the county elections official to cancel, as specified, duplicate voter registrations that may arise due to conditional voter registration. Existing law provides that upon conviction for a crime pertaining to an election for which no fine is prescribed, the court may impose, in addition to any prescribed imprisonment, a fine on the offender not more than $1,000 for a misdemeanor or $10,000 for a felony. This bill would increase the amount of that fine for a felony to $25,000. By creating new duties for local elections officials, 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 Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, in the amount of $3,000 for each full-time employee hired by a qualified employer, until a cut off date in which a maximum cumulative credit of $400,000,000 has been reached for all taxable years. Those laws define "qualified employer" as a taxpayer that employed 20 or fewer employees as of the last day of the preceding taxable year. This bill, under both laws, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, would expand the definition of "qualified employer" to mean a taxpayer that employed 50 or fewer employees as of the last day of the preceding taxable year. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax 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. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law does not regulate how law enforcement officials prepare or conduct eyewitness photo or live lineup identifications. This bill would declare the legislative intent that law enforcement officials study and consider adopting the policies and procedures regulating eyewitness lineup identifications that are recommended by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice in order to ensure that eyewitness identification procedures in California minimize the chance of misidentification of a suspect. This bill would require the Department of Justice, in consultation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other legal experts, to develop on or before January 1, 2013, guidelines for policies and procedures, as specified, in order to ensure the reliability of eyewitness identifications, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Justice to report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2013, the guidelines developed pursuant to the provision described above, along with recommendations of any legislation needed to implement the guidelines. Existing law allows opinion testimony from expert witnesses to be admitted at trial upon specified showings. This bill would allow expert testimony regarding the reliability of an eyewitness identification to be admitted at trial in a criminal action, or in a juvenile court proceeding concerning a person who is or may be adjudged a ward of the juvenile court, if the proponent of the evidence establishes relevancy and proper qualifications of the witness.
(1) Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, establishes the School/Law Enforcement Partnership, and requires the partnership to establish a statewide school safety cadre for the purpose of facilitating interagency coordination and collaboration to reduce school violence and crime, truancy rates, bullying, teen relationship violence, and discrimination and harassment. Existing law requires the partnership to sponsor at least 2 regional conferences to identify exemplary programs and techniques that have been effectively used to reduce school crime, including hate crimes, vandalism, drug and alcohol abuse, gang membership and gang violence, truancy, and excessive absenteeism. The conferences may include, but need not be limited to, information on specified topics. This bill would define sexting for purposes of that act as the dissemination of, or the solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or school personnel by means of an electronic act with the intent to humiliate or harass. A photograph or other visual recording to which the bill would apply would be required to depict a specified area of the minor's body or a sexually explicit photograph or other visual recording of an identifiable minor. The bill would further define sexting to not include a depiction, portrayal, or image that has any serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value or that involves athletic events or school sanctioned activities. The bill would require the partnership's school safety programs to also have the purpose of reducing sexting, and would include sexting as a topic that may be included in the partnership's conferences. (2) Existing law prohibits the suspension of a pupil from school or the recommendation of a pupil for expulsion from school unless the school district superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed any of several specified acts. This bill would include engaging in an act of sexting, as defined above, as an act for which a pupil may be suspended or expelled from school.
Existing law provides for the award of attorney's fees and costs to, and the recovery of damages by a plaintiff when it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant is liable for physical abuse or neglect of an elder or dependent adult and the defendant has also been guilty of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice in the commission of the abuse. This bill would revise these provisions to change the standard of proof to a preponderance of the evidence. Existing law authorizes a plaintiff to recover damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant in addition to the actual damages. Existing law provides that an employer is not liable for punitive damages based on the acts of an employee unless certain conditions are satisfied. Existing law requires that these conditions regarding the imposition of punitive damages on an employer based upon the acts of an employee be satisfied before any damages or attorney's fees permitted due to liability for physical abuse or neglect of an elder or dependent adult are authorized to be imposed against an employer. This bill would instead require that these conditions regarding the imposition of punitive damages on an employer be satisfied before any punitive damages may be imposed against an employer found liable for physical abuse, as defined, or neglect, as defined. This bill would state that these provisions are not intended to affect the specified standard of proof for punitive damages.
Existing law continuously appropriates the amounts specified in the annual Budget Act as having been deposited in the State Highway Account from federal transportation funds, and pledged by the California Transportation Commission, to the Treasurer for the purposes of issuing federal highway grant anticipation notes, commonly known as GARVEE bonds, to fund transportation projects selected by the commission. Existing law defines an "eligible project" for these purposes as the federally funded portion of a highway or other transportation project that has been designated for accelerated construction by the commission, and increases the capacity, reduces the travel time, or provides long-life rehabilitation of the key bridges and roadways of a corridor or gateway for interregional travel and movement of goods. Existing law prohibits the Treasurer from authorizing the issuance of the notes if the annual repayment obligations of all outstanding notes in any fiscal year would exceed 15% of the total amount of federal transportation funds deposited in the account for any consecutive 12-month period within the preceding 24 months. This bill would provide that an "eligible project" may include projects programmed by a regional transportation planning agency using its share of apportionments of federal regional surface transportation program funds or congestion mitigation and air quality funds, as specified. The bill would authorize no more than 50% of bonding capacity of GARVEE bonds from being made available for these projects and would require the commission to require a regional transportation planning agency to commit to repaying the state for debt service if that agency's share of federal regional surface transportation program funds or federal congestion mitigation and air quality funds is insufficient to repay the GARVEE bonds or if a portion of the project costs is ineligible for federal funding. The bill would, for such a repayment by a regional transportation planning agency, authorize the commission to amend into the State Transportation Improvement Program some or all of the funds necessary for the repayment to be counted against the county share of State Transportation Improvement Program funds for the county in which the project is located. By expanding the types of projects for which GARVEE bonds may be used, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before August 1, 2011, and annually thereafter, to submit to the Governor, the Legislature, and the State Board of Education a report called the Annual Report on Dropouts in California. Existing law requires, among other things, that the report contain specified information on dropout rates, graduation rates, and pupil promotion rates. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the report be usable by schools, school districts, policymakers, researchers, parents, and the public, for purposes of identifying and understanding trends, causal relations, early warning indicators, and potential points of intervention to address the high rate of dropouts in California. This bill would require the report also to include information about the number of schools that offer dropout prevention or dropout recovery programs. The bill would also require the State Department of Education to post on its Internet Web site a list of schools that offer dropout prevention or dropout recovery programs and to include descriptions of the programs offered.
Existing law authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to enter into and execute local contractual agreements with any public or private entity or agency for the delivery of child care and development services or the furnishing of property, facilities, personnel, supplies, equipment, and administrative services related to the delivery of child care development services. This bill would require the State Department of Education, on and after January 1, 2013, at the request of a contractor for a contract executed by the department, as described above, to request the Controller to make a payment via direct deposit by electronic fund transfer into the contractor's account at the financial institution of the contractor's choice.
Existing law, as added and amended by various initiatives, including Proposition 7, approved by the voters at the November 7, 1978, statewide general election, provides for imposition of the death penalty for murder in the first degree if certain special circumstances are proved. Proposition 7 may only be amended by the Legislature by a statute that becomes effective only when approved by the electors. This bill would abolish the death penalty, and provide instead for imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole. The bill would provide that, where a defendant or inmate was sentenced to death prior to the date of voter approval of the bill, upon voter approval of the bill, the defendant's or inmate's sentence would automatically be converted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The bill would require persons sentenced pursuant to the provisions of the bill to work in a maximum security prison for the term of their imprisonment, as specified. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding the death penalty. The bill would provide that it would only become effective if certain of its provisions are submitted to and approved by the electors at the November 6, 2012, statewide general election.
The Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop an Academic Performance Index (API) , which measures the performance of schools and the academic performance of pupils and consists of a variety of indicators, including pupil scores from a list of specified tests. The results of those specified tests constitute 60% of the value of the API. This bill, commencing with the 2012–13 fiscal year, would require the Superintendent, in consultation with the State Board of Education, to incorporate various indicators into the API, including high school graduation rates, rates by which pupils complete a course of study at an achievement level that fulfills the requirements and prerequisites for admission to California public institutions of postsecondary education, and rates by which pupils complete a course of study that provides the skills and knowledge necessary to attain entry-level employment in business or industry when they graduate from high school. Existing law requires the Superintendent to establish an advisory committee to advise the Superintendent and the state board on the creation of the API and to make related recommendations. This bill would require the advisory committee to make recommendations relative to implementing the requirements imposed by this bill. The advisory committee also would be required to develop recommendations for the inclusion of multiple measures in the API of middle and junior high schools.
Existing law requires a county welfare department to request a consumer disclosure, pursuant to federal law, on behalf of a youth in a foster care placement in the county when the youth reaches his or her 16th birthday, in order to ascertain whether the youth has been the victim of identity theft. If the consumer disclosure reveals any negative items or evidence that identity theft has occurred, existing law requires the county welfare department to refer the youth to an approved organization that provides services to victims of identity theft. Existing law requires the department to develop a list of approved organizations for this purpose, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association and others. This bill would revise these provisions to require the county welfare department or the State Department of Social Services to ascertain whether identity theft may have occurred under the described circumstances. The bill would authorize the county welfare department and the State Department of Social Services to refer the matter to a governmental agency or nonprofit organization that provides information and assistance to victims of identity theft. The bill would authorize the governmental agency or nonprofit organization to take remedial actions to clear the youth's credit record and to report the results to the county welfare department or the State Department of Social Services. The bill would require the Office of Privacy Protection, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services and other specified entities, to develop a list of governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations to which these matters may be referred for assistance in responding to an instance of suspected identity theft.
(1) Existing law, the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state to collect a covered electronic waste recycling fee from the consumer, as specified. These fees are deposited in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is continuously appropriated the money in the account to, among other things, make electronic waste recovery payments and recycling payments. CalRecycle is authorized to make these payments only if certain conditions are met. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would define the terms "electronic waste" and "electronic device" and would additionally require, as a condition of CalRecycle making those payments, that CalRecycle determine that the recycler has demonstrated to the Department of Toxic Substances Control that all electronic waste handled by the recycler making the claim has been managed in a specified manner, among other things. (2) Existing law requires a person who exports covered electronic waste, or a covered electronic device intended for recycling or disposal, to a foreign country, or to another state for ultimate export to a foreign country, to comply with specified notification requirements and make specified demonstrations. Existing law exempts from these requirements a component part of a covered electronic device that is exported and reused or recycled. The bill would revise the requirements imposed on exportation to additionally include a person who exports electronic waste or a previously used electronic device and would also include, in the provision, an export intended for reuse. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The bill would repeal the existing exemption for exportation of component parts that are reused or recycled and would instead require the department to adopt regulations exempting materials or component parts of electronic waste or previously used electronic devices that meet certain conditions. The bill would also make conforming changes to reference to CalRecycle. (3) 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.
