BILL NUMBER: AB 1659 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Butler
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Price )
FEBRUARY 14, 2012
An act to amend Section 3509 of the Government Code,
relating to public employment. An act to amend Section
18894 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to
taxation, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1659, as amended, Butler. Public Employment Relations
Board: powers and duties. Voluntary contributions:
Arts Council Fund.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes taxpayers to contribute
amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of a
specified fund, including the Arts Council Fund. Existing law
provides that these provisions for contributions to the Arts Council
Fund remain in effect only until January 1 of the 5th taxable year
following the first appearance of the Arts Council Fund on the tax
return, except that annually, commencing in the second calendar year
of the fund appearing on the tax return, if the Franchise Tax Board
determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received
during a calendar year will not equal or exceed the minimum
contribution amount, as defined, for the calendar year, these
provisions are repealed with respect to taxable years beginning on or
after January 1 of that calendar year. Existing law requires the
Franchise Tax Board to annually determine the amount of the minimum
contribution and whether the amount of contributions equals or
exceeds the minimum contribution amount by September 1 of the 2nd
calendar year.
This bill would delay the commencement date of the requirement
that the Franchise Tax Board determine the amount of the minimum
contribution and whether the amount of contributions equals or
exceeds the minimum contribution amount to September 1 of the 3rd
calendar year and would make related changes.
This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature
that any determination by the Franchise Tax Board with respect to the
contributions estimated to be received for the 2012 calendar year
under these provisions, made prior to the amendments made by this
act, shall not be given effect.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB), which is charged with administering various collective
bargaining provisions. Under existing law, PERB has the power and
duty, among others, to order elections, conduct any election, adopt
rules, investigate an unfair practice charge, and to determine
whether the charge is justified and the appropriate remedy for the
unfair practice.
Existing law also grants the employee relations commissions for
the County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles,
notwithstanding the above provisions, the power and responsibility to
take actions on recognition, unit determinations, elections, and all
unfair practices, and to issue determinations and orders as the
employee relations commissions deem necessary.
This bill would grant the employee relations commissions for the
County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles the power and
authority to take the actions specified above only if those
commissions and their respective staff are independent of county and
city management, as described, and the commissions are not funded
within the same budget item that funds any other public office,
department, or agency within the county or city.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: no yes .
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 18894 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code is amended to read:
18894. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), this
article shall remain in effect only until January 1 of the fifth
taxable year following the first appearance of the Arts Council Fund
on the personal income tax return, and as of that date
December 1 of that year is repealed, unless a
later enacted statute, that is enacted before the applicable date,
deletes or extends that date.
(b) (1) By September 1 of the second third
calendar year and each subsequent calendar year that the Arts
Council Fund appears on the tax return, the Franchise Tax Board shall
do all of the following:
(A) Determine the minimum contribution amount required to be
received during the next calendar year for the fund to appear on the
tax return for the taxable year that includes that next calendar
year.
(B) Determine whether the amount of contributions estimated to be
received during the calendar year will equal or exceed the minimum
contribution amount determined by the Franchise Tax Board for the
calendar year pursuant to subparagraph (A). The Franchise Tax Board
shall estimate the amount of contributions to be received by using
the actual amounts received and an estimate of the contributions that
will be received by the end of that calendar year.
(2) If the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of the
contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will
not at least equal the minimum contribution amount for the calendar
year, this article is repealed
shall be inoperative with respect to taxable years beginning on
or after January 1 of that calendar year and shall be repealed
on December 1 of that year .
(3) For purposes of this section, the minimum contribution amount
for a calendar year means two hundred fifty thousand dollars
($250,000) for the second third
calendar year after the first appearance of the Arts Council Fund on
the personal income tax return or the adjusted
minimum contribution amount as adjusted pursuant to
subdivision (c).
(c) For each calendar year, beginning with the third
fourth calendar year after the first appearance
of the Arts Council Fund on the personal income tax return, the
Franchise Tax Board shall adjust, on or before September 1 of that
calendar year, the minimum contribution amount specified in
subdivision (b) as follows:
(1) The minimum estimated contribution amount for the calendar
year shall be an amount equal to the product of the minimum
estimated contribution amount for the prior
calendar year multiplied by the inflation factor adjustment as
specified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of
Section 17041, rounded off to the nearest dollar.
(2) The inflation factor adjustment used for the calendar year
shall be based on the figures for the percentage change in the
California Consumer Price Index for all items received on or before
August 1 of the calendar year pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (h) of Section 17041.
(d) Notwithstanding the repeal of this article, any contribution
amounts designated pursuant to this article prior to its repeal shall
continue to be transferred and disbursed in accordance with this
article as in effect immediately prior to that repeal.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature that
any determination by the Franchise Tax Board under paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b) of Section 18894 of the Revenue and Taxation Code
with respect to the contributions estimated to be received for the
2012 calendar year under the provisions of Section 18894 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code, made prior to the amendments made to
Section 18894 of the Revenue and Taxation Code by Section 1 of this
act, shall not be given effect.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
To ensure that taxpayers continue to contribute to the Arts
Council Fund, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
SECTION 1. Section 3509 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
3509. (a) The powers and duties of the board described in Section
3541.3 shall also apply, as appropriate, to this chapter and shall
include the authority as set forth in subdivisions (b) and (c).
Included among the appropriate powers of the board are the power to
order elections, to conduct any election the board orders, and to
adopt rules to apply in areas where a public agency has no rule.
(b) A complaint alleging any violation of this chapter or of any
rules and regulations adopted by a public agency pursuant to Section
3507 or 3507.5 shall be processed as an unfair practice charge by the
board. The initial determination as to whether the charge of unfair
practice is justified and, if so, the appropriate remedy necessary to
effectuate the purposes of this chapter, shall be a matter within
the exclusive jurisdiction of the board, except that in an action to
recover damages due to an unlawful strike, the board shall have no
authority to award strike-preparation expenses as damages, and shall
have no authority to award damages for costs, expenses, or revenue
losses incurred during, or as a consequence of, an unlawful strike.
The board shall apply and interpret unfair labor practices consistent
with existing judicial interpretations of this chapter.
(c) The board shall enforce and apply rules adopted by a public
agency concerning unit determinations, representation, recognition,
and elections.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, the
employee relations commissions established by, and in effect for, the
County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles pursuant to
Section 3507 shall have the power and responsibility to take actions
on recognition, unit determinations, elections, and all unfair
practices, and to issue determinations and orders as the employee
relations commissions deem necessary, consistent with and pursuant to
the policies of this chapter, only if the commissions and their
respective staff are independent of county and city management, and
the commissions are not funded within the same budget item that funds
any other public office, department, or agency within the county or
city. Independence from city and county management shall include, but
not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) The commission, and not the city or county management, shall
be the custodian of records of the commission.
(2) Once a budget is allocated to the commission, the commission
shall have the sole discretion on how to allocate its funds.
(3) The commission, and not the city or county management, shall
have control over all employment issues related to its staff and
hearing officers.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, consistent
with, and pursuant to, the provisions of Sections 3500 and 3505.4,
superior courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over actions
involving interest arbitration, as governed by Title 9 (commencing
with Section 1280) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, when the
action involves an employee organization that represents
firefighters, as defined in Section 3251.
(f) This section shall not apply to employees designated as
management employees under Section 3507.5.
(g) The board shall not find it an unfair practice for an employee
organization to violate a rule or regulation adopted by a public
agency if that rule or regulation is itself in violation of this
chapter. This subdivision shall not be construed to restrict or
expand the board's jurisdiction or authority as set forth in
subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive.
____ CORRECTIONS Heading--Page 1.
____