(1) Existing law establishes the state civil service system in accordance with Article VII of the California Constitution and contains exemptions for certain categories of workers, including officers or employees appointed or employed by commissions.
Existing law establishes within state government the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs, comprised of 13 members, as specified. Existing law requires the commission to, among other duties, advise the Governor, the Legislature, and state entities on issues relating to the social and economic development and the rights and interests of Asian Pacific Islander American communities.
This bill would authorize the commission to appoint an executive director who would be exempt from civil service.
(2) Under existing law, by executive order, CaliforniaVolunteers is established in the office of the Governor and is charged with overseeing programs and initiatives for service and volunteerism. Existing law authorizes CaliforniaVolunteers to form a nonprofit public benefit corporation or other entity exempt from income taxation, as provided, to raise revenues and receive grants or other financial support from private or public sources, for purposes of undertaking or funding any lawful activity authorized to be undertaken by CaliforniaVolunteers. Existing federal law, the National Community Service Trust Act, also requires the state to create a commission to carry out specified duties relating to national service programs to be eligible for grants or allotments under certain programs, or to receive distributions of approved national service positions.
This bill would continue into existence the Board of
Commissioners under CaliforniaVolunteers for purposes of meeting the requirements of the federal act and the act’s implementing rules and regulations, as provided. The bill would require the Governor to appoint voting representatives, who serve at the pleasure of the Governor and serve in renewable 3-year terms, to the commission as specified, and would also specify other ex officio, nonvoting members of the commission. The bill would provide that no more than 50% of the commission, plus one member, shall be from the same political party, and would require appointments to be made in compliance with the federal act. The bill would also provide that members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for travel expenses and receive a per diem as appropriate.
(3) The California Constitution establishes the office of the Treasurer, whose duties under existing law include acting as an elected
representative of the state for the purposes of approving the issuance of bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, issued by or on behalf of the state.
Existing law establishes the Franchise Tax Board, consisting of the Controller, the Director of Finance, and the Chairman of the State Board of Equalization, in the Government Operations Agency, and prescribes various powers and duties to the Franchise Tax Board, including, among other things, the administration of state personal income taxes and corporation franchise and income taxes.
This bill would establish the California Economic Improvement Tax Voucher Act, which would require the Franchise Tax Board, in consultation with the Treasurer and the Department of Finance, to develop a comprehensive plan for a California Economic Improvement Tax Voucher Program, in accordance with specified requirements, to be considered by
the Legislature. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to provide the comprehensive plan to specified legislative committees by March 1, 2021, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2022.
(4) Existing law creates, in the Department of Business Oversight, the Division of Corporations and also establishes the State Corporations Fund for purposes of supporting the Division of Corporations.
SB 908 of the 2019–20 Regular Session proposes to enact the Debt Collection Licensing Act which would, beginning on January 1, 2022, provide for licensure, regulation, and oversight of debt collectors. SB 908 establishes the Debt Collection Licensing Fund for purposes of the act
This bill would abolish the Division of Corporations within the Department of Business Oversight, which would be
replaced by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The bill would abolish the State Corporations Fund, the Debt Collection Licensing Fund, and the Financial Institutions Fund and replace these funds with the Financial Protection Fund, with expenses and salaries of the department paid out of this new fund. The bill would require that all duties and responsibilities and remaining balances of the State Corporations Fund and Financial Institutions Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be transferred to the Financial Protection Fund as the successor fund. The bill would require funds from the Financial Protection Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be made available for expenditure for laws or programs of the department from fees and amounts charged pursuant to specified provisions of the Corporations Code.
(5) Existing law authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to assume the
responsibilities of the United States Secretary of Transportation under the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and other federal environmental laws for any railroad, public transportation, or multimodal project undertaken by state agencies, as specified. Existing law provides that the State of California consents to the jurisdiction of the federal courts with regard to the compliance, discharge, or enforcement of these responsibilities. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2021.
This bill would extend the operation of these provisions for one year.
(6) Existing law creates the Department of Human Resources in an effort to better serve the human resources and personnel needs of the state. Existing law authorizes the department to charge state agencies for actual and necessary costs of specific legal services, of arbitration relating to specific
grievance arbitration cases, and of negotiating and administering memoranda of understanding governing state employer and employee relations.
This bill would also authorize the department to charge state agencies and departments for the actual and necessary costs related to services rendered by the department in specified areas, including controlled substance abuse testing. The bill would require the Controller to transfer to the department any moneys owed to the department by any state agency or department for these charges, as specified.
(7) Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program, administered by the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges.
Upon appropriation, existing law requires the agency to distribute $650,000,000 under the program among cities, counties, and continuums of care, as provided, and requires a recipient to expend those funds on evidence-based solutions that address and prevent homelessness among eligible populations.
Existing law provides for a 2nd round of funding under the program, to be administered by the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council. Upon appropriation, existing law requires the council to distribute the $300,000,000 available for implementing round 2 of the program to cities, counties, and continuums of care, in a manner similar to existing provisions of the program and used for similar purposes, including $90,000,000 available for continuums of care, as specified.
This bill would require the council to award no less than $250,000 to a grant applicant in the 2nd round of funding
that is a continuum of care.
Existing law requires $130,000,000 of the funding available under the 2nd round of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program to be available to each city, or city that is also a county, that has a population of 300,000 or more, as of January 1, 2020, as specified. Existing law requires the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to calculate the allocation to a city based on the city’s proportionate share of the total homeless population of the region served by the continuum of care within which the city is located, based on the 2019 homeless point-in-time count.
This bill would require that if more than one recipient within the continuum of care meets those requirements, the proportionate share of funds be equally allocated to those jurisdictions.
(8) The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires every beverage container sold or offered for sale in this state to have a minimum refund value. The act requires a beverage distributor to pay a redemption payment to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state by the distributor, and requires the department to deposit those amounts, and all other revenues the department receives under the act, in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. Under the act, moneys in the fund, except for civil penalties or fines, are continuously appropriated to the department to, among other things, pay refund values, administrative fees, and processing payments to processors, and handling fees to recycling sites in convenience zones, as defined.
The act also requires the department, not less than once every 3 months, to provide the Legislature with information
for the current fiscal year and the budget year that includes, among other things, an updated fund condition statement for the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, the recycling rate, projected sales, and projected handling and processing fee payments, and to post that information on the department’s internet website.
This bill would instead require that information to be provided to the Legislature and posted on the department’s internet website not less than once every 6 months.
(9) The Vehicle License Fee Law, in addition to any other fee imposed on a vehicle by that law or by the Vehicle Code, imposes a transportation improvement fee on each vehicle and requires a portion of the revenues attributable to the fee to be transferred to the Public Transportation Account for the State Transit Assistance Program. Existing law continuously appropriates those funds to the
Controller under a program commonly known as the State of Good Repair Program for allocation to transit agencies pursuant to specified formulas. Existing law restricts the expenditure of moneys under this program to (1) transit capital projects or services to maintain or repair a transit operator’s existing transit vehicle fleet or existing transit facilities; (2) the design, acquisition, and construction of new vehicles or facilities that improve existing transit services; or (3) transit services that complement local efforts for repair and improvement of local transportation infrastructure.
This bill would authorize a recipient transit agency to instead expend funds apportioned for the 2019–20 to 2021–22 fiscal years, inclusive, under the program on any operating or capital expenses to maintain transit service levels if the governing board of the recipient transit agency makes a specified declaration. By expanding the purposes for which continuously appropriated
funds may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. If the governing board of the recipient transit agency makes this declaration, the bill would exempt the recipient transit agency from certain procedural, reporting, and accounting requirements of the State of Good Repair Program with respect to the receipt and expenditure of those funds.
(10) Existing property tax law requires county boards to meet to equalize the assessment of property on the local roll, as provided, and authorizes a taxpayer to apply to the county board for an assessment reduction under a variety of circumstances, including for a reduction of the base year value, as defined, of real property. Existing property tax law requires that the applicant’s opinion of value, as reflected on a timely filed application for reduction in an assessment of property, be the basis for the calculation of property taxes, where the county board has failed to hear
evidence and make a final determination on that application within either 2 years of the filing of that application or an extension of that 2-year period. Existing law requires that the applicant’s opinion of value be the basis for taxing the property described in the application for all succeeding tax years until the county board acts upon the application, as provided.
This bill would provide that this 2-year deadline by which a county board is required to render a final determination on a qualified application is extended until March 31, 2021. The bill would define a qualified application to mean a pending application for reduction in assessment of property that is timely filed with the county board and has a 2-year deadline occurring during the period beginning on March 4, 2020, and before March 31, 2021. The bill would provide that this extension of the 2-year deadline applies retroactively to all qualified applications that have a two-year deadline occurring
during the period beginning on March 4, 2020, and before the operative date of this bill.
The California Constitution and existing property tax law generally provide for the equalization of valuations of taxable property within the county by a county board, defined to mean a county board of equalization or an assessment appeals board. Existing law also authorizes the boards of supervisors of 2 or more counties to establish a multijurisdictional assessment appeals board to equalize the valuation of taxable property within each participating county by enactment of an ordinance in each participating county, as defined, for a period of not less than 4 years.
Existing property tax law imposes specified requirements for equalization hearings, including a requirement that equalization hearings be open and public, as provided.
This bill would provide that nothing in
existing law be construed to prohibit a county board or a multijurisdictional assessment appeals board from conducting hearings remotely. The bill would require a county board or a multijurisdictional assessment appeals board that conducts a hearing remotely to ensure compliance with those requirements for equalization hearings and any rules and procedures adopted by the county board of supervisors, as specified. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
(11) Existing law establishes the State Department of Social Services and requires the department to administer various public social services programs, such as the CalFood Program and the In-Home Supportive Services Program.
The Personal Income Tax Law, beginning on or after January 1, 2015, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income tax credit, the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), against
personal income tax and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified.
Existing law provides that it is a misdemeanor for the Franchise Tax Board or specified state employees to disclose or make known any information in a return, report, or document filed under income tax laws, but authorizes the Franchise Tax Board to disclose this information to specified agencies for specified purposes. Existing law makes any unwarranted disclosure or use of the information by those agencies a misdemeanor.
This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to exchange data with the Franchise Tax Board upon request, including the names, addresses, and contact information of individuals
that may qualify for the CalEITC, and would require the data provided to remain confidential and be used only for purposes directly connected with the CalEITC.
This bill would also authorize the Franchise Tax Board to disclose individual income tax return information for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2020, to the State Department of Social Services, and would require the information provided to remain confidential and be used only for purposes of informing state residents of the availability of federal stimulus payments.
(12) Existing law authorizes the Employment Development Department (EDD) within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to perform various functions and duties, including administering unemployment programs.
Existing law provides that it is a misdemeanor for the Franchise Tax
Board or specified state employees to disclose or make known any information in a return, report, or document filed under income tax laws, but authorizes the Franchise Tax Board to disclose this information to specified agencies for specified purposes. Existing law makes any unwarranted disclosure or use of the information by those agencies a misdemeanor.
This bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, upon request, to disclose return and return information necessary to verify income, as specified, through information sharing agreements or data interfaces, when necessary for EDD unemployment program administration, as provided.
(13) Existing unemployment insurance law requires the Employment Development Department to pay unemployment compensation benefits to unemployed individuals meeting specified requirements.
This bill would require the Director of the
Employment Development Department to make publicly available, beginning on September 4, 2020, and until July 1, 2021, on the department’s internet website, specified information, including the number of unemployment compensation benefit claims paid and the number of claims found to be ineligible since March 1, 2020.
(14) Existing law prescribes various requirements for agencies and departments administering state programs that provide housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. For programs that fund recovery housing, as defined, in existence prior to July 1, 2017, existing law requires these programs to collaborate with the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate the core components of Housing First, as defined, by July 1, 2022.
Existing law
also requires an agency or department that administers programs that fund recovery housing to additionally, in coordination with the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, consult with the Legislature, the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other stakeholders between July 1, 2020, and January 1, 2022, to identify ways to improve the provision of housing to individuals who receive funding from that agency or department, consistent with the applicable requirements of state law and to ensure that recovery housing programs meet specified requirements.
This bill would additionally require an agency or department that administers programs that fund recovery housing to comply with specified core components of Housing first, and would impose all those additional requirements only until July 1, 2022.
(15) Existing law requires the Director of Finance to provide to the Legislature, on or before May 14 of each year, an estimate of General Fund revenues for the current fiscal year and for the ensuing fiscal year, any proposals to reduce expenditures to reflect updated revenue estimates, and all proposed adjustment to the Governor’s Budget that are necessary to reflect required updated estimates of state funding, as specified, and to reflect caseload enrollment or population changes. Existing constitutional law also requires the Department of Finance, after the proposed adjustments to the Governor’s Budget made in May, to submit the Legislature estimates of General Fund revenues for the ensuing fiscal year and for the 3 fiscal years thereafter and estimates of General Fund expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year and for the 3 fiscal years thereafter, as specified.
Existing law, on
December 31, 2021, suspends a specified allocation in the Budget Act of 2020 to help young adults secure and maintain housing, as provided, unless the Department of Finance makes a specified determination regarding the above-described estimates of General Fund revenues and expenditures required by existing constitutional law for the May budget revisions required to be released by May 14, 2021.
This bill would make a clarifying change to that suspension provision.
(16) Existing law establishes the California Community Services Block Grant Program, which authorizes the Governor to assume responsibility for the federal Community Services Block Grant program, and which is designed to concentrate various resources with the goal of assisting low-income families and individuals in rural and urban areas. Existing law prohibits, on and after January 1, 2020, housing
funded by the program from including housing used to comply with a specified federal requirement to furnish housing to H-2A workers, as defined.
This bill would revise the prohibition effective January 1, 2020, as described above, and instead prohibit housing funded by the program from being rented, sold, or subleased, to an agricultural employer or farm labor contractor who employs an H-2A worker, as defined, until the end of the regulatory agreement or affordability covenant. The bill would make conforming changes regarding reimbursement of funds in the case that an H-2A worker is employed. The bill would require a person or entity who receives funds to make a declaration in this regard.
(17) Existing law, the Employee Housing Act defines and regulates employee housing. The act defines “agricultural employee housing” as housing occupied by an employee of an agricultural
employer, as specified, or by a farm labor contractor, as specified, and grants a tenant in agricultural employee housing all rights applicable to a person residing in employee housing. The act generally reserves local use zoning requirements, local fire zones, property line, source of water supply, and method of sewage disposal to regulation by the local jurisdictions. The act prescribes expedited building permitting requirements for local building or health departments and if the local entities do not approve or deny an application or permit request within a specified time, authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve the application or permit request if it determines that the plans are consistent with all applicable building codes and health and safety requirements. A violation of the Employee Housing Act may be a misdemeanor.
This bill would delete the definition of “agricultural employee housing,” as it is
applied generally to the act. For particular provisions, the bill would prescribe a definition of “agricultural employee” with reference to the Labor Code and would specify that a tenant who is an agricultural employee residing in employee housing has all rights applicable to people residing in employee housing.
The act authorizes a developer to submit an application for a streamlined, ministerial approval process if specified requirements are met, including that the development is located on land zoned for primarily agricultural use. For purposes of this process, existing law defines “eligible agricultural employee housing development,” which, among other things, includes a requirement that local government ensures an affordability covenant is recorded on the property to ensure the affordability of the proposed agricultural employee housing for not less than 35 years.
This bill
would revise the above-described agricultural use zoning requirement to instead require that the development be located on land designated as agricultural in the applicable city or county general plan. The bill would increase the length of the recorded, affordability covenant to 55 years. The bill would prescribe a definition of “agricultural employee housing” for purposes of these provisions.
The act requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to establish an application and review process for certifying that a person or entity is an affordable housing organization qualified to operate agricultural employee housing. Existing law authorizes the department to review, adopt, amend, or repeal standards, forms, or definitions in order to implement provisions relating to agricultural employee housing that are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act. Existing law prescribes requirements for establishing guidelines in this regard,
including consultation with stakeholders and minimum public comment periods, that are also exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act.
The bill would revise the authorizations described above and specifically limit their application to certain provisions of the act and would change their placement in the act.
By increasing the duties of local officials with respect to the Employee Housing Act, and by expanding the scope of an existing crime with respect to violations of the Employee Housing Act, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(18) Existing law, the Zenovich-Moscone-Chacon Housing and Home Finance Act, among other things makes various declarations regarding housing policy in California and sets forth general responsibilities and roles of the Business, Consumer Services and
Housing Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the California Housing Finance Agency in carrying out state housing policies and programs. Existing law prohibits the application of state funding for the purposes of funding predevelopment of, developing, or operating any housing used to comply with federal law regarding furnishing housing to H-2A workers, as defined, applicable to agreements entered into on and after January 1, 2020. Existing law makes the same prohibition on funding from the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, and provisions relating to a special housing program for migratory workers.
This bill would revise the prohibitions on the application of state funding in connection with furnishing housing to H-2A workers applicable to agreements entered into on and after January 1, 2020, as described above, present in the Zenovich-Moscone-Chacon Housing and
Home Finance Act, the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, and provisions relating to a special housing program for migratory workers. The bill would prohibit funding, as specified, of an employer or its agent who employs at least one H-2A worker. The bill would require a person or entity receiving state funding pursuant to these provisions, on and after January 1, 2020, to make a specified declaration. In this regard the person or entity would state that it is not an agricultural employer or farm labor contractor, or its agent, that employs at least on H-2A worker, as defined, and that it will not rent, sell, or sublease funded housing to these employers or contractors or their agents until the expiration of the regulatory agreement or affordability covenant, as applicable.
The bill would also state, with respect to certain provisions, that the Department of Housing and Community Development
is not responsible for inspecting units that are not subsidized by funding received by the department.
(19) 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 specified reasons.
(20) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.