Existing law requires the Controller to prescribe uniform accounting and reporting procedures that are applicable to specified types of local agencies, including special districts. This bill would instead require the Controller to prescribe uniform accounting procedures that are applicable only to specified types of special districts, subject to these provisions. The bill would require the Controller to prescribe uniform accounting procedures for cities, subject to specified criteria, in collaboration with the Committee on City Accounting Procedures, which would be created by the bill. This bill would also make various conforming changes.
Existing law, the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law, provides for the licensure and regulation by the Commissioner of Corporations of persons engaged in the business of making or negotiating deferred deposit transactions, as defined. Existing law authorizes a licensee to defer the deposit of a customer's personal check for up to 31 days, prohibits the face amount of the check from exceeding $300, and requires each deferred deposit transaction to be made pursuant to a written agreement. This bill would instead authorize the face amount of a check for a deferred deposit transaction to be up to $500.
The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes 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, measured by sales price. That law defines a "retailer engaged in business in this state" to include retailers that engage in specified activities in this state and requires every retailer engaged in business in this state and making sales of tangible personal property for storage, use, or other consumption in this state to register with the State Board of Equalization and to collect the tax from the purchaser and remit it to the board. This bill would include in the definition of a retailer engaged in business in this state any retailer entering into agreements under which a person or persons in this state, for a commission or other consideration, directly or indirectly refer potential purchasers, whether by an Internet-based link or an Internet Web site, or otherwise, to the retailer, provided the total cumulative sales price from all sales by the retailer to purchasers in this state that are referred pursuant to these agreements is in excess of $10,000, within the preceding 12 months, and provided further that the retailer has cumulative sales of tangible personal property to purchasers in this state of over $500,000, within the preceding 12 months, except as specified. This bill would further provide that a retailer entering specified agreements to purchase advertising is not a retailer engaged in business in this state and would define a retailer to include an entity affiliated with a retailer under federal income tax law, as specified. This bill would further provide that these provisions would not apply if the retailer can demonstrate that the referrals would not satisfy specified United States constitutional requirements, as provided. This bill would provide that the provisions of this bill are severable.
Existing law divides the state into agricultural districts within the boundaries of which agricultural associations may be formed. Existing law provides that District 32 is the County of Orange. Existing law creates District 32a which consists of all that real property that is a portion of District 32 that is commonly known as the Orange County Fair and authorizes the Department of General Services to sell all or any portion of the real property that composes District 32a pursuant to a public bidding process. This bill would authorize the Board of Directors of the Orange County Fair, or an agent of that entity, as specified, to enter into a revenue sharing plan with the state regarding property of the Orange County Fair, as specified, if the plan would generate an amount in excess of $100,000,000 for the state over a period not to exceed 40 years from the initial date of the agreement. The bill would also require, not less than 30 days prior to entering into that agreement, the Director of General Services to submit the complete terms of the agreement to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to prepare and adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan, and requires the general plan to include specified, mandatory elements, including a housing element. That law authorizes the County of Napa, during a specified period ending June 30, 2007, to meet up to 15% of its existing share of the regional housing need for lower income households by committing funds for the purpose of constructing affordable housing units, and constructing those units in one or more cities within the county, only after specified conditions are met. Among those conditions is a requirement that the receiving city demonstrate that it has met, within a specified period, at least 20% of its share of the regional need for housing for very low income households allocated to the city, as specified. This bill would extend the period of this authorization to October 31, 2022, and would delete the requirement that the receiving city demonstrate that it has met at least 20% of its share of the regional need for housing for very low income households allocated to the city.
Existing law requires counties to administer various public safety programs, including, among others, mental health services for children, substance abuse recovery services, jail services, and fire protection and support services. This bill would, contingent upon a specified finding made by the Director of Finance, authorize the Department of Finance and any county to enter into a contract that would authorize the county to integrate public services, as specified. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to provide an analysis of any contract entered into pursuant to these provisions, and would require the Legislature to ratify the contract by an enactment of a bill. The bill would also require the applicable county board of supervisors to ratify the contract. The bill would provide that a contract would last 10 years, and would require the county to report to the Department of Finance and the Legislature on the progress towards meeting the goals of the contract during the 5th year.
Under existing law, any person who willfully inflicts corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition upon a person who is his or her spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, former cohabitant, or the mother or father of his or her child, is guilty of a felony, punishable as specified. This bill would make those provisions apply to the infliction of that type of injury on the fiancé or fiancée of that person or on someone with whom the person has, or previously had, a dating or engagement relationship. By expanding the scope of a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. That law authorizes the department to enter into 5-year contracts with regional centers, subject to an annual appropriation of funds by the Legislature. The act requires the contracts to specify that each regional center include annual performance objectives that will meet certain standards and allows the department to specify additional areas of support that require development or enhancement. The act requires corrective action if a regional center fails to meet the performance standards. This bill would authorize the department to specify additional areas of support requiring development or enhancement, as specified. This bill would require the department to develop processes and procedures, as specified, to address issues of retaliation against regional center employees and vendors and would require those processes and procedures to be included in the regional center standard agreement contracts. This bill would require a regional center to report annually to the department the total number of complaints it has received within a fiscal year and would require the department to report the information to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would require the department, in addition to all other audits and reviews, to conduct a review of each regional center's compliance with the procedures for developing individual program plans, as specified, and to utilize the results of the review to develop annual performance objectives. The bill would also, beginning July 1, 2013, require each regional center to post on its Internet Web site a directory of vendorized service providers, and negotiated rates, if applicable, and to update that list annually. The act provides that the regional centers purchase needed services for individuals with developmental disabilities through approved service providers that are identified through a process of vendorization. The act requires services and supports of comparable quality that are offered at different costs by different providers to be assessed and the lower cost provider used unless specified determinations are made. This bill would require the determination of comparability to be made by the program planning team and to include specified criteria.
Existing law provides various circumstances that constitute rape including an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the perpetrator where the person submits under the belief that the person committing the act is the victim's spouse, and this belief is induced by artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by the accused, with the intent to induce the belief. This bill would additionally provide that this type of rape occurs where the person submits under the belief that the person committing the act is the victim's cohabitant, as provided. By expanding the definition of a crime, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the California Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act, prohibits a person from manufacturing for sale or selling in the state specified general purpose lights that contain levels of hazardous substances prohibited by the European Union pursuant to the RoHS Directive. This bill would require a manufacturer of household mercury-containing lamps, on or before April 1, 2013, individually or through a stewardship organization, to prepare and submit to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for approval a household mercury-containing lamp stewardship plan to establish a recovery program for the management of end-of-life household mercury-containing lamps. The bill would define terms, including defining the term stewardship fee as an amount added to the retail purchase price of a mercury-containing household lamp. The bill would require the plan to include the payment of a stewardship fee at the point of sale and would specify a procedure for the department's approval of the amount of the stewardship fee. This bill would constitute a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. The department would be required to review the plan and approve the plan within 90 days of receipt. The department would be authorized to recover the reasonable cost of the plan review by requiring the payment of a plan review fee and to expend the funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the costs of implementing this plan review. The bill would require the manufacturer or designated stewardship organization to implement a program consistent with a plan approved by the department. The department would be required to post on its Internet Web site a list of manufacturers for which the department has reviewed and approved a plan and to update the site, as specified. The bill would require a retailer that distributes or sells household mercury-containing lamps to consumers in the state to monitor the department's Internet Web site to determine if the sale of a manufacturer's mercury-containing lamp is listed as being in compliance. The bill would prohibit a manufacturer or retailer, on and after November 1, 2013, from selling or offering for sale a household mercury-containing lamp in the state unless the manufacturer is included on the above-described list, except as provided in a specified procedure. The bill would also require a retailer to add the stewardship fee to the retail purchase price of a household mercury-containing lamp, and remit the fee to the manufacturer or stewardship organization manufacturer. A retailer would also be required to document the stewardship fee as a separate line item on the customer's receipt, and to include specified information on that receipt. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, a manufacturer or its designated stewardship organization to demonstrate to the department that it has achieved continuous meaningful improvement to the extent practicable in implementing the program, and the department would be required to direct a manufacturer or its designated stewardship organization to terminate the program implementing its plan if it finds that the program is not proportionately contributing to the packaging, transportation, and recycling of end-of-life household mercury-containing lamps in the state. The bill would also require a manufacturer or its designated stewardship organization, by July 1, 2014, and annually thereafter to submit a report to the department describing the program implementing the plan. The department would be required to review the annual report and issue a finding of whether the program is in compliance within 90 days of receipt. The bill would authorize the department to enforce the bill's provisions, including the imposition of administrative civil penalties and would make a statement of legislative intent regarding the application of state and federal antitrust laws.
Existing law establishes the Green Ribbon Science Panel and authorizes the panel to take various actions in assisting the Department of Toxic Substances Control with regard to identifying, evaluating, and responding to chemicals of concern in consumer products. This bill would authorize the panel to form subgroups to consider and report to the full panel and the department on specific priority topics identified by the department. The bill would limit the total meetings held by all subgroups to not more than 10 during a fiscal year and would require that meetings conducted by a subgroup be held in a cost-effective manner to minimize the costs incurred by the meetings.
Existing law requires the Legislature to pass a Budget Bill making appropriations for the support of state government for the ensuing fiscal year. This bill would amend the Budget Act of 2011 to require the Director of Finance to forecast General Fund revenues for the 2011–12 fiscal year by December 15, 2011, and to determine whether that revenue forecast or the Legislative Analyst's November 2011 General Fund revenue forecast is higher. Under this bill, the Director of Finance would be required to make reductions to specified items of appropriation if the higher revenue forecast is less than $87,452,500,000 and to make additional reductions to specified items of appropriation if the higher revenue forecast is less than $86,452,500,000. This bill would also provide that items of appropriation in the Budget Act of 2011 shall be reduced as appropriate to reflect any funds used from the Trial Court Security Account, the Social Services Subaccount, or from other accounts or subaccounts of the Local Revenue Fund 2011, and would require the Director of Finance to allocate the necessary reductions to each item of appropriation to accomplish the reductions required by this bill. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a Budget Bill.
