Under the Corporation Tax Law, specific tax-exempt organizations are exempted from the requirement to file annual information returns, including those organizations the gross receipts of which in each taxable year are normally not more than $25,000. This bill would increase the gross receipts threshold for the application of the exemption from the annual filing requirement to $50,000.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue distinctive license plates for a motor vehicle owned by a current or retired Member of the California Legislature and a Member of the Congress of the United States and requires that the person pay additional fees in addition to the regular fees for an original registration or renewal of registration. Existing law establishes the California Environmental License Plate Fund in the State Treasury and requires, after certain moneys are deducted by the Controller, that the balance of the moneys in the fund be available for expenditure for specific trust purposes. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2014, (1) make the additional fees for these distinctive license plates the same as the fees paid by an applicant for a personalized license plate, (2) make the Member subject to a transfer fee for these distinctive license plates, and (3) require the department to deposit in the California Environmental License Plate Fund all fees received by the department in payment for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of the special license plates authorized under these provisions after the department deducts its costs in administering these provisions.
Under existing law, the Department of General Services exercises oversight of the acquisition and replacement of motor vehicles by state agencies. As of July 1, 2012, "state agencies" are defined for these purposes to include each campus of the California State University. This bill would delete the reference to each campus of the California State University from the definition of state agencies under these provisions. Existing law required, until July 1, 2012, the Trustees of the California State University to report to the Legislature on their motor vehicle procurement, to include specified information, on or before June 30 of each year. This bill would require the trustees to make an interim report to the Governor and the Legislature on January 1, 2014, and a final report on January 1, 2015, on their motor vehicle procurement, as provided. The bill would also require the trustees, to the greatest extent feasible, to purchase vehicles using statewide commodity contracts. This bill would repeal these provisions on July 1, 2015. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires a business to obtain various licenses from regulatory agencies. Existing law requires state agencies to take specified actions, including, but not limited to, designating a small business liaison, to assist small businesses to achieve compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. This bill would require the Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to ensure that the office's Internet Web site contains information to assist an individual with the licensing, permitting, and registration requirements necessary to start a business. The bill would require a state agency that the Governor determines has licensing authority to provide accurate updated information about its licensing requirements, and would prohibit a state agency from using this Internet Web site as the exclusive source of licensing information for the public. The bill would also authorize the Governor to impose a reasonable fee, not to exceed the actual cost to provide the service, upon users of the Internet Web site.
Existing law provides that, in addition to any other remedy authorized by law, when a spouse is convicted of attempting to murder the other spouse or of soliciting the murder of the other spouse, the injured spouse shall be entitled to 100% of the community property interest in his or her retirement and pension benefits, and a prohibition of specified support or insurance benefits from the injured spouse to the convicted spouse. Existing law defines "injured spouse" for these purposes. Under existing law, a family court is required to consider specified factors in ordering spousal support, including the criminal conviction of an abusive spouse. This bill would expand the above-described provisions to apply when a spouse is convicted of a specified violent sexual felony against the other spouse, and would require the court to consider the convicted spouse's criminal conviction for a violent sexual felony in ordering spousal support, as specified. The bill would also require the court to order the attorney's fees and costs to be paid from the community assets if warranted by economic circumstances. Under the bill, the injured spouse, as defined, would not be required to pay any of the convicted spouse's attorney's fees out of his or her separate property. The bill would further, at the request of the injured spouse, define the date of the parties' legal separation as the date of the incident giving rise to the conviction, or earlier if the court finds that the circumstances justify an earlier date, for community property purposes.
Existing law provides for the conduct of elections generally. Existing law prohibits the use of a voting system for an election unless it has been approved as meeting specified criteria by the Secretary of State prior to the election. Existing law defines a voting system as any mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software, or any combination of these used to cast or tabulate votes, or both. This bill would exempt from the definition of a "voting system" a ballot marking system. The bill would define a ballot marking system to mean a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software that is used for the sole purpose of marking a ballot for a special absentee voter and that is not connected to a voting system at any time. The bill would require the Secretary of State to study and adopt regulations governing the use of ballot marking systems. The bill would establish procedures to govern the approval of ballot marking systems by the Secretary of State. The bill would prohibit the use of a ballot marking system at an election until it has been approved by the Secretary of State as meeting prescribed criteria. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law prescribes various duties for the Department of General Services in connection with development and maintenance of the park around the State Capitol Building. This bill would authorize the Ronald Reagan Centennial Capitol Foundation, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to plan a statue of Ronald Reagan in the State Capitol Building Annex. The bill would require the Department of General Services and the Ronald Reagan Centennial Capitol Foundation to approve the design and any other aspect of the statue. The bill would require that the planning, construction, and maintenance of the statue be funded with private donations through the Ronald Reagan Centennial Capitol Foundation. The bill would prohibit construction of the statue until the Joint Committee on Rules has approved and adopted the plan for the statue, and the Joint Committee on Rules and the Department of Finance have determined that sufficient private funding is available to construct and maintain the statue.
Existing law, the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, establishes a program of cooperative federalism for the regulation of telecommunications to attain the goal of local competition, while implementing specific, predictable, and sufficient federal and state mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service, consistent with certain universal service principles. The universal service principles include the principle that consumers in all regions of the nation, including low-income consumers and those in rural, insular, and high-cost areas, should have access to telecommunications and information services, including interexchange services and advanced telecommunications and information services, that are reasonably comparable to those services provided in urban areas and that are available at rates that are reasonably comparable to rates charged for similar services in urban areas. Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state, including telephone corporations, and to fix just and reasonable rates and charges for the public utility. Existing law establishes the state's universal service funds, including the California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund (CHCF-A) and the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund (CHCF-B) , in the State Treasury, and provides that moneys in each of the state's universal service funds are the proceeds of rates and are held in trust for the benefit of ratepayers and to compensate telephone corporations for their costs of providing universal service. Moneys in the funds may only be expended to accomplish specified telecommunications universal service programs, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or upon supplemental appropriation. Existing law, until January 1, 2015, requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable program to establish a fair and equitable local rate structure aided by universal service rate support to small independent telephone corporations that serve rural areas and are subject to rate-of-return regulation by the commission (the CHCF-A program) . This bill would revise the CHCF-A program to instead require the commission, until January 1, 2015, to exercise its regulatory authority to maintain the CHCF-A program to provide universal rate support to small independent telephone corporations in amounts sufficient to meet the revenue requirements established by the commission through rate-of-return regulation in furtherance of the state's universal service commitment to the continued affordability and widespread availability of safe, reliable, high-quality communications services in rural areas of the state. The bill would specify eligibility requirements for small independent telephone corporations to participate in the CHCF-A program and requirements for the commission in maintaining the program. This bill would require a small independent telephone corporation that receives support from the CHCF-A program to provide information regarding revenues derived from the provision of unregulated internet access service upon request from the commission and would require the commission to treat this information as confidential. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a failure by a small independent telephone corporation that receives support from the CHCF-A program to provide information regarding revenues derived from unregulated internet access service when requested by the commission would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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.
Under existing law, the Department of Motor Vehicles issues environmental and other specialized license plates. The issuance of some of those license plates is subject to additional fees. This bill would require the department to establish the California Legacy License Plate Program, and to create and issue a series of specialized license plates that replicate plates from the state's past, if at least 7,500 applications for any one particular plate are received and held by the department, on or before January 1, 2015. The bill would require that, upon determination by the department that there are sufficient funds for the program, moneys be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for the necessary administrative costs of establishing the program and, as to any remaining moneys, for deposit into the California Environmental License Plate Fund for appropriation by the Legislature pursuant to existing law.
Existing law authorizes the State Board of Education and the governing board of each school district maintaining one or more high schools to adopt instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and high schools, respectively. Existing law places specified requirements on a publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials offered for adoption. Existing law, until July 1, 2015, exempts school districts from requirements to provide pupils with instructional materials by a specified time period following adoption of those materials by the state board. This bill would require a publisher or manufacturer submitting a printed instructional material for adoption by the state board or the governing board of a school district to ensure that the printed instructional material is also available in an equivalent digital format during the entire term of the adoption. The bill would become operative only if SB 1154 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is also enacted and takes effect.
