The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act authorizes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, governed by a board of directors, to make loans and provide other assistance to public and private entities for various types of economic development projects, among other things. The activities of the bank under these provisions are funded from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Fund, which is continuously appropriated for these purposes. This bill would authorize the board of directors to enter into development and financing agreements for projects within the California-Mexico border region, as defined. The bill would authorize the bank to establish and participate in a binational financing authority to facilitate and support the economic development of communities within the border region. The bill would require the bank to develop guidelines for the selection, review, and approval of border region projects and authorize the bank to issue bonds, the proceeds of which would be deposited in the Binational Development Account, which the bill would create within the fund. By expanding the purposes for which a continuously appropriated fund may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would state that certain provisions of this bill shall become operative only if the Executive Director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank determines that there are sufficient funds available to implement those provisions and submits a letter to the Legislature to that effect. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Target Area Contract Preference Act, provides, except as specified, that the state shall award preferences to California-based companies submitting bids or proposals for state contracts who demonstrate and certify under penalty of perjury that of the total labor hours required to manufacture the goods and perform the contract, at least 50 percent of the hours shall be accomplished at an identified worksite or worksites located in a distressed area by persons with a high risk of unemployment if the contract is for goods or services in excess of $100,000. Existing law also provides that the maximum preference and incentive a bidder may be awarded pursuant to these provisions is $50,000 for any bid, and $100,000 for the combined cost of these preferences and incentives and those provided pursuant to any other provision of law. This bill would instead provide that the maximum preference and incentive a bidder may be awarded pursuant to these provisions shall not exceed $350,000 for any bid, and $400,000 for the combined cost of these preferences and incentives and those provided pursuant to any other provision of law. Existing law, the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act, provides for various programs to encourage the participation of small businesses, as certified by the Department of General Services, in state agency contracts, including a microbusiness and a disabled veteran business enterprise. Existing law requires directors of state agencies, in awarding prescribed contracts, to provide a 5% preference to small businesses and microbusinesses, and a preference of up to 5% to a nonsmall business that provides for small business or microbusiness subcontractor participation, not to exceed prescribed amounts. Existing law provides, in solicitations where an award is made to the lowest responsible bidder, that the preferences shall not exceed $50,000 for any bid and that the combined cost of preferences granted shall not exceed $100,000. Existing law provides that, in bids in which the state has reserved the right to make multiple awards, the $50,000 maximum preference cost shall be applied. This bill would provide, in solicitations where an award is made to the lowest responsible bidder, that the preference to small business and microbusiness be 5% of the lowest responsible nonsmall business bidder meeting specifications and that the preference to nonsmall business bidders that provide for small business or microbusiness subcontractor participation be up to a maximum of 5% of the lowest responsible nonsmall business bidder. This bill also would provide that the preference not exceed $350,000 for any contract award and that the combined cost of preferences granted not exceed $400,000. This bill would require that the $350,000 maximum preference cost be applied in multiple contract awards.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would, instead, prohibit the application of those reductions for payments to providers for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011. The bill would also require payments for managed care health plans for dates of service following the effective date of the bill to be determined without application of some of those reductions. The bill would require the Director of Health Care Services to implement this provision to the maximum extent permitted by federal law and for the maximum time period for which the director obtains federal approval for federal financial participation for those payments. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law regulates horse racing in this state and provides for the payment and distribution of license fees in connection with horse racing meetings. Existing law establishes the Fair and Exposition Fund to, among other things, allocate moneys for the support of the network of California fairs. Existing law requires certain license fees from satellite wagering to be deposited into a separate account in the Fair and Exposition Fund, and continuously appropriates those moneys for specified purposes, including, among others, the payment of expenses incurred in establishing and operating satellite wagering facilities at fairs. This bill would delete the provisions requiring satellite wagering license fees to be deposited into a separate account in the Fair and Exposition Fund and to be continuously appropriated for specified purposes. The bill would instead require certain revenues paid by racing associations and fairs generated by parimutuel wagering to be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund and would require those funds to be continuously appropriated for various purposes, including, among others, capital improvements at fairgrounds. The bill would revise requirements for concurrence by the Joint Committee on Fairs, Allocation, and Classification of certain allocations proposed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. The bill would also require all funds appropriated for California fairs and expositions to be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund and would continuously appropriate those funds for various purposes. By continuously appropriating the funds in the Fair and Exposition Fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law provides that the Department of Food and Agriculture is responsible for providing oversight of activities carried out by each California fair, including, but not limited to, conducting fiscal and performance audits of county fairs and citrus fruit fairs that are either requested by the fair or that the department deems necessary, and conducting, or causing to be conducted, annual fiscal audits and periodic compliance audits. This bill would delete the requirement that the department conduct the audits described above and would instead require the department to provide that the books and accounts for the prior calendar year of all fairs receiving money from the Fair and Exposition Fund be examined and reviewed annually and audited once every 3 years by an independent certified public accountant or certified public accountancy firm. The bill would require a summary of the examination to be appended to the fair's annual statement of operations, and would provide that the costs of the annual review or audit be the responsibility of each fair. (3) Existing law requires the Legislature, from the total revenue received from the Department of Food and Agriculture, to annually appropriate moneys to the department as it deems necessary for the oversight of the network of California fairs and to perform audits. Existing law continuously appropriates any of those funds that are unallocated to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture for specified purposes. This bill would delete those provisions and instead would appropriate any unallocated balance in the Fair and Exposition Fund without regard to fiscal years for allocation by the secretary for capital outlay to California fairs for specified purposes. The bill would also specify that a reasonable amount of those funds, as determined by the secretary, may be used during any year by the Division of Fairs and Expositions to provide oversight and administration of the network of fairs. (4) Existing law divides the state into agricultural districts and provides for the management of these districts by district agricultural associations. Existing law provides for a board of directors for each district agricultural association, and provides for the appointment of each director by the Governor. This bill would authorize the Governor to remove a director for cause within one year of the director's appointment. (5) Existing law specifies the duties and responsibilities of district agricultural associations, and requires a district agricultural association to obtain the approval of the Department of Food and Agriculture prior to exercising certain powers, including, among others, the power to sue. Existing law also requires a district agricultural association to obtain the approval of both the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services in order to exercise certain other powers, including the power to conduct activities upon the district agricultural association's property, contract, purchase, or convey an interest in either real or personal property, or to use or manage its real estate or personal property. This bill would revise the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services with respect to district agricultural associations, and, among other things, would delete the requirement that a district agricultural association obtain the Department of Food and Agriculture's approval prior to suing. The bill would also delete the requirement that a district agricultural association obtain prior approval from both the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of General Services prior to conducting activities upon the district agricultural association's own property, or entering into a contract or exercising powers over its own real or personal property. The bill would require a district agricultural association to comply with specified contracting procedures, including, among others, soliciting bids in writing if the estimated total cost of a project exceeds $25,000. The bill would require a district agricultural association to adopt a fiscal review policy to conduct audits at regular intervals, as specified, and would authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture to require an audit to be conducted at an earlier time if the department deems it necessary to protect the interests of the district agricultural association. The bill would specify that the title, control, and possession of all personal property acquired, held, managed, or operated by a district agricultural association vests with the district agricultural association. The bill would delete a provision requiring the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to expend up to $100,000 each fiscal year for an exhibit or exhibits at a fair that demonstrates the process of production and use of food and fiber, and would also delete a requirement that the secretary provide for a conference of fair judges to aid the Department of Food and Agriculture in prescribing regulations, and to expend up to $15,000 for that purpose. The bill would make other conforming and related changes. (6) Under existing law, the Department of General Services exercises oversight of the acquisition and replacement of motor vehicles, and the acquisition of certain mobile equipment, by state agencies, and defines "state agency" for those purposes. This bill would exclude a district agricultural association from that definition. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The California Clean Energy Jobs Act, an initiative approved by the voters at the November 6, 2012, statewide general election as Proposition 39, made changes to corporate income taxes and, except as specified, provides for the transfer of $550,000,000 annually from the General Fund to the Clean Energy Job Creation Fund for 5 fiscal years beginning with the 2013–14 fiscal year. Moneys in the Clean Energy Job Creation Fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of funding eligible projects that create jobs in California, improving energy efficiency and expanding clean energy generation. Existing law, among other things, provides for allocation of available funds to job training and workforce development. Existing law appropriates $3,000,000 from the fund to the California Workforce Investment Board to develop and implement a competitive grant program for eligible community-based and other training workforce organizations preparing disadvantaged youth or veterans for employment. This bill would additionally require the California Workforce Investment Board to require a grant recipient to report to the board specified information. The bill would require the board, after the first year of implementation of the program, to review and assess the program in achieving the job training and workforce development goals, identify problems and barriers, and provide solutions to improve program performance.
Existing law requires that each live birth, fetal death, death, and marriage that occurs in the state be registered. Existing law charges the State Registrar with the execution of provisions regulating these and other vital records. Existing law requires the registrar to prescribe and furnish all record forms for use in carrying out those purposes, or to prescribe the format, quality, and content of forms electronically produced in each county for those purposes, and provides that no record forms or formats other than those prescribed by the registrar may be used. Existing law also provides for the registration of domestic partnerships and requires 2 persons desiring to become domestic partners to complete and file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State, who returns to the parties a copy of the registered form and a Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership. Existing law also requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue drivers' licenses and identification cards. Existing law prescribes the form and content of Certificates of Registered Domestic Partnership, drivers' licenses, and identification cards. This bill would require the State Registrar to ensure that diacritical marks on English letters are properly recorded on all certificates of live birth, fetal death, or death, and all marriage licenses, including, but not limited to, accents, tildes, graves, umlauts, and cedillas. The bill would require the registrar to develop procedures to include other reasonable requests relating to names on certificates of live birth. The bill would impose similar requirements on the Secretary of State, with respect to Certificates of Registered Domestic Partnership, and on the Department of Motor Vehicles, with respect to drivers' licenses and identification cards. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature relative to the use of diacritical marks on certificates of live birth and other forms of state-issued identity documentation.
This measure would request the Congress of the United States to, among other things, act immediately to avert federal spending cuts known as "sequestration" to protect the California and national economies.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the commission with respect to the purchase of electricity and requires the commission to review and adopt a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical corporation pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires a retail seller, as defined, to purchase specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for specified compliance periods. A violation of the Public Utilities Act is a crime. This bill would require, no later than December 31, 2024, each retail seller of electricity to procure a proportionate share, as determined by the commission, of a statewide total of 500 megawatts of electricity generated by specified baseload geothermal powerplants. The bill would require, no later than January 1, 2016, each retail seller to file with the commission a plan for complying with the procurement requirement. The bill would authorize the commission to determine whether the electricity procured by retail sellers from these baseload geothermal powerplants shall count towards meeting their obligations under the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program to purchase specified minimum quantities of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources. The bill would prohibit the commission from approving a power purchase agreement to procure electricity pursuant to the above-described requirement that would result in a cumulative increase in the average rate for electricity paid by the ratepayers of the retail seller of 1% or more. The bill would require projects generating electricity procured pursuant to the bill's requirements to demonstrate an environmental benefit to California. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime under the Public Utilities Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the commission, no later than July 1, 2015, to issue an order instituting an investigation to examine the expiration of power purchase agreements between retail sellers and existing geothermal generation facilities. 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.
This measure would designate Monday, May 5, 2014, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day, urge all Californians to use that day to honor California peace officers, and recognize specified California peace officers who were killed in defense of their communities.
Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange that facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers, and meets certain other requirements. PPACA specifies that an individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully present in the United States shall not be treated as a qualified individual and may not be covered under a qualified health plan offered through an exchange. Existing law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange for the purpose of facilitating the enrollment of qualified individual and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law governs health care service plans and insurers. A violation of the provisions governing health care service plans is a crime. This bill would create the California Health Exchange Program for All Californians within state government and would require that the program be governed by the executive board that governs the California Health Benefit Exchange. The bill would specify the duties of the board relative to the program and would require the board to, by January 1, 2016, facilitate the enrollment into qualified health plans of individuals who are not eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal coverage and would have been eligible to purchase coverage through the Exchange but for their immigration status. The bill would require the board to provide premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions to eligible individuals that are the same as the premium assistance and cost-sharing reductions the individuals would have received through the Exchange. The bill would create the California Health Trust Fund For All Californians as a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation, would require the board to assess a charge on qualified health plans, and would make the implementation of the program's provisions contingent on a determination by the board that sufficient financial resources exist or will exist in the fund. The bill would enact other related provisions. The bill would require health care services plans and health insurers to fairly and affirmatively offer, market, and sell in the Exchange at least one product within each of 5 levels of coverage, as specified. Because a violation of the requirements imposed on health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. The federal Medicaid Program provisions prohibit payment to a state for medical assistance furnished to an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law. This bill would extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to individuals who are otherwise eligible for those benefits but for their immigration status. The bill would require that benefits for those services be provided with state-only funds only if federal financial participation is not available. Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations and this bill would expand Medi-Cal eligibility, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.