15700-15705

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 15700-15705




15700.  There is in the state government, in the Agriculture and
Services Agency, a Franchise Tax Board consisting of the State
Controller, the Director of Finance and the Chairman of the State
Board of Equalization. The Franchise Tax Board is the successor to,
and is vested with, all of the duties, powers, purposes,
responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the Franchise Tax Commissioner,
but the statutes and laws under which that office existed and all
laws prescribing the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities and
jurisdiction of that office, together with all lawful rules and
regulations established thereunder, are expressly continued in force.
"Franchise Tax Commissioner" when used in any statute, law, rule or
regulation now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted or adopted,
means the Franchise Tax Board. No action to which the Franchise Tax
Commissioner is a party shall abate by reason hereof but shall
continue in the name of the Franchise Tax Board, and the Franchise
Tax Board shall be substituted for the Franchise Tax Commissioner by
the court wherein the action is pending. The substitution shall not
in any way affect the rights of the parties to the action.
   Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary,
any directive or regulation adopted by the Franchise Tax Board shall
take precedence over any directive or regulation adopted by its
executive officer.



15701.  The Franchise Tax Board, with the consent and approval of
two-thirds of the membership of the Senate, may appoint an executive
officer who shall be a civil executive officer and shall perform such
duties as are delegated to him by the Franchise Tax Board. The
executive officer may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the
Franchise Tax Board. The Legislature hereby requests the Franchise
Tax Board to designate said executive officer as the person holding
the position confidential to it, within the meaning of subdivision
(e) of Section 4 of Article VII of the Constitution. The annual
salary of the executive officer shall be fifty-one thousand six
hundred twenty-four dollars ($51,624). The executive officer shall
employ, in addition to existing employees of the Franchise Tax
Commissioner, such other assistants and clerical and other employees
as he deems necessary for the effective conduct of his work, and
shall fix their compensation in accordance with law.



15702.  (a) Any power granted to, or duty imposed on, the Franchise
Tax Board by any provision of law may be exercised or performed by
any officer or employee of the board authorized by the board unless
it is expressly provided that the power or duty shall be exercised or
performed only by the board itself.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if any person
requests in writing to the executive officer or the Franchise Tax
Board that a specific proposed regulation be considered by the board
itself, then any authority delegated to any officer or employee of
the board to adopt that regulation is rescinded.



15703.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Franchise
Tax Board shall, upon the request of the local child support agency,
provide to that agency the address, in addition to the social
security number, of an absent parent against whose personal income
tax refund the agency has requested an offset for nonpayment of child
support, if that information is required for the enforcement of a
child support order.



15704.  The Director of General Services may construct on a site
contiguous to the first phase of the Franchise Tax Board's central
office, the second phase of the central office project, parking
facilities, and any other improvements, betterments, and facilities
related thereto.



15705.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, unless
prohibited by federal law, the Franchise Tax Board shall truncate
social security numbers on lien abstracts and any other records
created by the board that are disclosable under Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 before
disclosing the record to the public. For purposes of this section,
"truncate" means to redact the first five digits of a social security
number.