The existing federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude tribal-state gaming compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts, and amendments of tribal-state gaming compacts, between the State of California and specified Indian tribes. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would ratify the tribal-state gaming compacts entered into between the State of California and the following Indian tribes: the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. The bill would also ratify the amendment to the tribal-state gaming compact between the State of California and the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, executed on August 1, 2018, and the amendment to the tribal-state gaming compact between the State of California and the Karuk Tribe, executed on August 1, 2018. The bill would provide that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, certain actions related to these compacts and amended compacts are not projects for purposes of CEQA. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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Existing state sales and use tax laws impose 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. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes, including an exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, meals and food products that are furnished or served by any nonprofit veteran's organization for purposes of fundraising, as specified. This bill, on and after January 1, 2019, and before January 1, 2025, would exempt from these taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, building materials and supplies purchased by a qualified person for use by that qualified person in the construction of specified military and veteran medical facilities. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes cities and counties to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse cities and counties for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding these provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse cities and counties for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to entities, including, but not limited to, private or nongovernmental entities, Native American tribes, or local, state, and federal public agencies, for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Budget Act of 2017 appropriated moneys to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for purposes of, among other things, providing local assistance grants, grants to fire safe councils, and grants to qualified nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated ability to satisfactorily plan, implement, and complete a fire prevention project for these same purposes, as provided. This bill would, until January 1, 2024, authorize the director to authorize advance payments to a nonprofit organization, a local agency, a special district, a private forest landowner, or a Native American tribe from the grant awards specified above. The bill would prohibit a single advance payment from exceeding 25% of the total grant award. The bill would place specified requirements on the grantee of the advance payment, including that the grantee file an accountability report with the department, as provided. The bill would require the department to provide a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2023, on the outcome of the department's use of the advance payments. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, until January 1, 2019, defines the offense of aggravated arson, and defines the aggravating factors for the offense as, the person has been previously convicted of arson on one or more occasions within the past 10 years, the fire caused property damage and other losses in excess of $7,000,000, or the fire caused damage to, or the destruction of, 5 or more inhabited structures. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2019, deletes the aggravating factor of property damage and other losses in excess of $7,000,000 from the definition of aggravated arson. This bill would extend the operation of the former aggravated arson offense until January 1, 2024, and would increase the threshold of property damage and other losses constituting an aggravating factor for aggravated arson to $8,300,000. The bill would delay operation of the latter aggravated arson offense that deletes the threshold dollar amount of property damages or losses as an aggravating factor until January 1, 2024. By extending the operation of law defining 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 establishes the California Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. The purpose of the program is to link private long-term care insurance and health care service plan contracts that cover long-term care with the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program and the Medi-Cal program, and to provide IHSS and Medi-Cal program benefits to certain individuals who have income and resources above the eligibility levels for receipt of medical assistance, but who have purchased certified private long-term care insurance policies. Existing law prescribes specified criteria for certification of a long-term care insurance policy under the program, including a requirement that the policy provide levels and durations of benefits that meet minimum standards set by the department. Existing law requires a policy, certificate, or rider in which benefits are limited to the provision of all care settings, except nursing facility care, and that is offered under the California Partnership for Long-Term Care Program to be called a home care and community-based services policy, certificate, or rider. A long-term care policy, certificate, or rider that purports to provide benefits of home and community-based services under the California Partnership for Long-Term Care Program is required to provide specified minimum services, including assisted living facility services and residential care facility services. Existing law includes minimum policy definitions of those facilities. Existing law also requires the department to adopt regulations requiring that a long-term care insurance policy or health care service plan contract that includes long-term care services include, among other specified coverage categories, home care and community-based care coverage only. This bill would require a policy, certificate, or rider as described above to instead be called a home care, community-based services, and residential care facility only policy, certificate, or rider. The bill would delete assisted living facility services from the list of required minimum services to be provided, clarify that those required minimum services include care in a residential care facility, and delete the policy definitions. The bill also would make conforming name changes. This bill would authorize the department to certify a policy with a per diem benefit of at least $100 per day for a nursing facility, residential care facility, and home care and community-based services, if the policy provides a lifetime maximum benefit of not less than $73,000. The bill would authorize an insurer to offer a policy with those benefits only if the insurer also offers the applicant policy benefits that provide at least a lifetime maximum benefit that, at the time of purchase, is equivalent in dollars to at least 365 times 70% of the average daily private pay rate for a nursing facility and a nursing facility per diem benefit of no less than 70% of the average daily private pay rate for a nursing facility. Existing law requires an insurer or producer, at the time of application, to provide to an applicant a graph that illustrates the difference in premium rates and policy benefits payable in accordance with specified inflation protection provisions. This bill would also require the insurer or producer to provide to the applicant, an illustration of the differences in benefits between the 2 policies described above and a description of the available lower-cost options and the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 395 in the County of Mono as the Senator David E. Cogdill, Sr., Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
This measure would recognize the impact opioid-related deaths have had on California communities and would support groups and organizations working in California to combat the epidemic.
Existing property tax law requires property taxes to be refunded to the taxpayer or last recorded owner, as provided, under specified circumstances and requires that a refund only be made pursuant to a claim for refund. Existing law requires the claim to be verified by the person who paid the tax, including his or her guardian, executor, or administrator. This bill would additionally provide for verification of a claim by the trustee of the person who paid the tax. The bill would also authorize, pursuant to the board of supervisors of a county adopting a resolution or ordinance that so provides, a refund of property taxes or assessments without a verified claim if there has been no transfer of the property in the fiscal year that the taxes were levied and if the refund amount is less than $5,000.
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 public utilities. Existing law establishes the state's 6 universal service funds in the State Treasury, including the California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund and the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund, 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, 2019, 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) . Existing law, until January 1, 2019, requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable, competitively neutral, and broad-based program to establish a fair and equitable local rate support structure aided by universal service rate support to telephone corporations serving areas where the cost of providing services exceeds rates charged by providers, as determined by the commission (the CHCF-B program) . This bill would extend the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program requirements to January 1, 2023. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order or direction of the commission is a crime. Because the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program, that are extended under the provisions of this bill, are within the act and a decision or order of the commission implements the programs' requirements, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would designate November 2018 as Diabetes Awareness Month and would, among other things, encourage individuals to seek screening to understand their diabetes risk.