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.
Sponsored bills
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 provides economic impact aid funding to school districts based on the number of economically disadvantaged pupils and English learners enrolled in the school district. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to perform specified calculations to determine the amount of economic impact aid a school district receives for a fiscal year and further requires each school district to expend these funds for specified programs and activities. This bill would require a school district, as a condition of the receipt of economic impact aid funds, to post in an easily accessible location on its Internet Web site data related to its economic impact aid funding and expenditures, as specified.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires elected officers, candidates for elective office, and committees to prepare and file various campaign finance reports, as specified. This bill would exempt an elected member of, or a candidate for election to, a county central committee of a qualified political party who receives contributions of less than $1,000 and who makes expenditures of less than $1,000 in a calendar year from the requirements to file specified campaign statements. The act imposes limitations on contributions by persons to candidates for elective state office and permits local jurisdictions to impose additional contribution limitations, as specified. The act also authorizes a local agency to impose additional filing requirements on a person, except as specified. This bill would prohibit a local government agency from imposing any filing requirements on an elected member of, or a candidate for election to, a county central committee of a qualified political party who receives contributions of less than $1,000 and who makes expenditures of less than $1,000 in a calendar year. The bill would also prohibit a local jurisdiction from imposing any contribution limitations or prohibitions on an elected member of, or a candidate for election to, a county central committee of a qualified political party, or on a committee primarily formed to support or oppose a person seeking election to a county central committee of a qualified political party. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and to the extent required by federal law, a county office of education and a charter school, to assess the English language development of each of those pupils in order to determine their level of proficiency. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting the assessment and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion funds appropriated for purposes of assessing the English language development of pupils whose primary language is a language other than English to enable school districts to use the California English language development test to identify pupils who are limited English proficient, determine the level of English language proficiency of those pupils, and to assess the progress of those pupils in acquiring the skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing in English. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2014, to review and analyze the criteria, policies, and practices that a sampling of school districts that represent the geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic diversity of school districts in the state use to reclassify English learners and recommend to the Legislature and state board any guideline, regulatory, or statutory changes that the department determines are necessary to identify when English learners are prepared for the successful transition to classrooms and curricula that require English proficiency. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2014, to issue a report on its findings, research, analysis, recommendations, and best practices, and by January 1, 2017, to issue an updated report that reflects any changes in analysis and recommendations as a result of the adoption by the state board of the common core standards and related English language development standards. The bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent on an appropriation of federal or state funds or on the availability of private funding.
Under existing law, the segments of the public postsecondary education system in the state include the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which are administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes uniform student residency requirements for purposes of ascertaining the amount of tuition and fees to be paid by students of public postsecondary education institutions. Existing law entitles a student who was a member of the Armed Forces of the United States stationed in this state on active duty for more than one year immediately prior to being discharged from the Armed Forces to resident classification for the length of time he or she lives in this state after being discharged up to the minimum time necessary to become a resident. This bill instead would make those students exempt from paying nonresident tuition, and would revise that provision for purposes of the California Community Colleges by making a community college student who was a member of the Armed Forces of the United States stationed in this state on active duty for more than one year immediately prior to being discharged from the Armed Forces exempt from paying nonresident tuition for up to one year, to be used while he or she lives in this state and within two years of being discharged, if he or she files an affidavit with the community college stating that he or she intends to establish residency in California as soon as possible, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a former member of the Armed Forces of the United States who received a specified discharge from being eligible for an exemption. 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.
This measure would recognize June 12, 2012, as the 114th Anniversary of Philippine Independence, and would call upon the people of the state to observe the month of June with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 regulates contributions to public officials and also regulates conflicts of interests on the part of public officials while carrying out their respective duties. Among its provisions, the act prohibits an officer of an agency from accepting, soliciting, or directing a contribution of more than $250 from a party or participant in a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use while that proceeding is pending before the agency and for 3 months following the final decision in the proceeding. For these purposes, "officer" is defined to include any elected or appointed officer of the agency. This bill would change the definition of "officer" for these purposes to exclude an elected officer of the agency. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
(1) Existing law generally requires secondhand dealers and coin dealers, as defined, to report specified transactions involving tangible personal property, on forms provided or approved by the Department of Justice, to the local law enforcement agency where their businesses are located. Existing law defines "tangible personal property" for these purposes, and excludes from that definition, among other items, commercial grade ingots defined to include, among other items, 0.99 fine ingots of gold, silver, or platinum. This bill would revise the definition of commercial grade ingots to include 0.99 fine or finer ingots of gold, silver, palladium, or platinum. Under existing law, secondhand dealers and coin dealers are required to report the information described above using an electronic reporting system 12 months after the Department of Justice develops that system. This bill would eliminate the electronic filing requirements for coin dealers, and would instead require that secondhand dealers report this information using the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system on and after the date that the system is implemented, as specified. (2) Existing law requires a local law enforcement agency to issue a license to engage in the business of a secondhand dealer or pawnbroker to an applicant who meets designated criteria. Existing law authorizes the local licensing authority and the Department of Justice to charge an initial licensure fee and a renewal fee, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Justice to charge a licensure fee and a renewal fee of no more than $300, as specified. The bill would also require licensees issued a license before the effective date of this bill to pay an additional fee of no more than $288 for the purpose of funding the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system, with payment due within 120 days of the enactment of this bill. The bill would require that the fees assessed by the department be deposited in the Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury. The bill would require that the money in the fund be used by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of paying for specified regulatory costs, including the cost of implementing, operating, and maintaining the single, statewide, uniform electronic reporting system. The bill would also require applicants for a license to submit fingerprint images relative to a required criminal background check, with associated fee revenue to be deposited in the Fingerprint Fee Account, and would make those revenues available to the Department of Justice, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for these purposes. This bill would make findings and declarations of the Legislature, and state the intent of the Legislature, with regard to these matters. The bill would make other related conforming changes. The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Personal Income Tax Law provides for various exclusions from gross income. This bill would also exclude from gross income the value of any specified prize or award won by a taxpayer in the Olympic Games. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.