BILL NUMBER: SB 481 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Section 392.1 of the Public Utilities
Code, relating to electricity. An act to amend Section
4320 of the Family Code, relating to spousal support.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 481, as amended, Wright. Electrical restructuring:
information practices. Spousal support.
Existing law authorizes a court to issue an order for spousal
support, and sets forth various circumstances the court is required
to consider in issuing the order including, among other things, the
ability of the supporting party to pay spousal support, and the
obligations and assets of each party.
This bill would require the court also to consider the extent to
which income for support was already capitalized and paid to the
other spouse in the division of community property, in order to avoid
double counting the income when the result would be inequitable.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to compile
and regularly update specific consumer information regarding
electrical service.
This bill would, instead, specifically require the commission to
compile and update that information every six months.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4320 of the Family
Code is amended to read:
4320. In ordering spousal support under this part, the court
shall consider all of the following circumstances:
(a) The extent to which the earning capacity of each party is
sufficient to maintain the standard of living established during the
marriage, taking into account all of the following:
(1) The marketable skills of the supported party; the job market
for those skills; the time and expenses required for the supported
party to acquire the appropriate education or training to develop
those skills; and the possible need for retraining or education to
acquire other, more marketable skills or employment.
(2) The extent to which the supported party's present or future
earning capacity is impaired by periods of unemployment that were
incurred during the marriage to permit the supported party to devote
time to domestic duties.
(b) The extent to which the supported party contributed to the
attainment of an education, training, a career position, or a license
by the supporting party.
(c) The ability of the supporting party to pay spousal support,
taking into account the supporting party's earning capacity, earned
and unearned income, assets, and standard of living.
(d) The needs of each party based on the standard of living
established during the marriage.
(e) The obligations and assets, including the separate property,
of each party.
(f) The duration of the marriage.
(g) The ability of the supported party to engage in gainful
employment without unduly interfering with the interests of dependent
children in the custody of the party.
(h) The age and health of the parties.
(i) Documented evidence of any history of domestic violence, as
defined in Section 6211, between the parties, including, but not
limited to, consideration of emotional distress resulting from
domestic violence perpetrated against the supported party by the
supporting party, and consideration of any history of violence
against the supporting party by the supported party.
(j) The immediate and specific tax consequences to each party.
(k) The balance of the hardships to each party.
(l) The goal that the supported party shall be self-supporting
within a reasonable period of time. Except in the case of a marriage
of long duration as described in Section 4336, a "reasonable period
of time" for purposes of this section generally shall be one-half the
length of the marriage. However, nothing in this section is intended
to limit the court's discretion to order support for a greater or
lesser length of time, based on any of the other factors listed in
this section, Section 4336, and the circumstances of the parties.
(m) The criminal conviction of an abusive spouse shall be
considered in making a reduction or elimination of a spousal support
award in accordance with Section 4325.
(n) The extent to which income for support was already capitalized
and paid to the other spouse in the division of community property,
to avoid double counting the income when the result would be
inequitable, based on all of the circumstances presented.
(n)
(o) Any other factors the court determines are just and
equitable.
SECTION 1. Section 392.1 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
392.1. (a) The commission shall compile and update every six
months all of the following information: names and contact numbers of
registered providers, information to assist consumers in making
service choices, and the number of customer complaints against
specific providers in relation to the number of customers served by
those providers and the disposition of those complaints. To
facilitate this function, registered entities shall file with the
commission information describing the terms and conditions of any
standard service plan made available to residential and small
commercial customers. The commission shall adopt a standard format
for this filing. The commission shall maintain and make generally
available a list of entities offering electrical services operating
in California. This list shall include all registered providers and
those providers not required to be registered that request the
commission to be included in the list. The commission, upon request,
shall make this information available at no charge. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, public agencies that are registered
entities shall be required to disclose their terms and conditions of
service contracts only to the same extent that other registered
entities would be required to disclose the same or similar service
contracts.
(b) The commission shall issue public alerts about companies
attempting to provide electric service in the state in an
unauthorized or fraudulent manner as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 394.25.
(c) The commission shall direct the Office of Ratepayer Advocates
to collect and analyze information provided pursuant to subdivision
(a) for purposes of preparing easily understandable informational
guides or other tools to help residential and small commercial
customers understand how to evaluate competing electric service
options. In implementing these provisions, the commission shall
direct the Office of Ratepayer Advocates to pay special attention to
ensuring that customers, especially those with
limited-English-speaking ability or other disadvantages when dealing
with marketers, receive correct, reliable, and easily understood
information to help them make informed choices. The Office of
Ratepayer Advocates shall not make specific recommendations or rank
the relative attractiveness of specific service offerings of
registered providers of electric services.