July 11, 2024
Golden State Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the GSRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Valerie Evans, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
BALLOT/BOND MESSURES COMING TO YOUR BALLOT!
SB 867 Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024.
The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program.
Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 2/3 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters.
This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs.
Approved by the governor on 07/03/2024 (Will be Proposition 4 on November ballot)
AB 247, Muratsuchi. Education finance: school facilities: Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Schools and Local Community College Public Education Facilities Modernization, Repair, and Safety Bond Act of 2024.
(1) The California Constitution prohibits the Legislature from creating a debt or liability that singly or in the aggregate with any previous debts or liabilities exceeds the sum of $300,000, except by an act that (1) authorizes the debt for a single object or work specified in the act, (2) has been passed by a 2/3 vote of all the Members elected to each house of the Legislature, (3) has been submitted to the people at a statewide general or primary election, and (4) has received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at that election.
This bill would set forth the Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Schools and Local Community College Public Education Facilities Modernization, Repair, and Safety Bond Act of 2024 as a state general obligation bond act that would provide $10,000,000,000 to construct and modernize education facilities, including $8,500,000,000 for elementary and secondary educational facilities and $1,500,000,000 for community college facilities, as specified. This bond act would become operative only if approved by the voters.
(2) The Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 provides for the adoption of rules, regulations, and procedures, under the administration of the Director of General Services, for the allocation of state funds by the State Allocation Board for the construction and modernization of public school facilities.
This bill would require a school district to submit to the Department of General Services a 5-year school facilities master plan as a condition of participating in the school facilities program under the act. The bill would amend the methodology for calculating the local contribution a school district is required to make in order to be eligible to receive state funding under the act, as specified.
The bill would require a school district that seeks new construction or modernization funding under the act after November 5, 2024, to submit an updated report of the school district’s existing school building capacity to the State Allocation Board.
The bill would authorize the allocation of state funds under the act for the replacement of school buildings that are at least 75 years old, for specified assistance to school districts with a school facility located on a military installation, as specified, and small school districts, as defined, and for the testing and remediation of lead levels in water fountains and faucets used for drinking or preparing food on school sites, as provided.
The bill would authorize new construction and modernization grants to be used for seismic mitigation purposes, certain health and safety projects, and, among other things, to establish schoolsite-based infrastructure to provide broadband internet access. The bill would also authorize modernization grants to be used for the control, management, or abatement of lead.
The bill would increase the maximum level of total bonding capacity, as defined, that a school district could have and still be eligible for financial hardship assistance under the act from $5,000,000 to $15,000,000. The bill, commencing with the 2026–27 fiscal year, would increase that $15,000,000 maximum by a specified inflation adjustment each fiscal year.
The bill would authorize the State Allocation Board to provide assistance for purposes of procuring interim housing to school districts and county offices of education impacted by a natural disaster for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency. The bill would also make conforming changes.
The bill would make these provisions effective upon the adoption by the voters of the Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Schools and Local Community College Public Education Facilities Modernization, Repair, and Safety Bond Act of 2024.
Approved by the governor on 07/03/2024 (Will be Proposition 2 on November ballot)
MORE INTERESTING APPROVALS
The Legislature finds and declares that the minimum funding obligation for school districts and community college districts pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution for the 2023–24 fiscal year exceeds the state’s revenues available for this purpose for the 2023–24 fiscal year.
(b) The Legislature hereby invokes subdivision (h) of Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution to suspend the minimum funding obligation for school districts and community college districts for the 2023–24 fiscal year. (And passes SB 154)
SB 154, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Education finance: Proposition 98: suspension.
The California Constitution requires the state to apply a minimum amount of funding for each fiscal year for the support of school districts and community college districts. Existing law authorizes the Legislature to suspend that minimum funding obligation for one year by the enactment of an urgency statute, as provided.
This bill would suspend the minimum funding obligation for the 2023–24 fiscal year and would declare that the amount of money that will be applied by the state for the support of school districts and community college districts during the 2023–24 fiscal year is $98,484,249,000.
PARENT’S RIGHTS DAMAGED
AB 1955, Ward. Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act.
(1) Existing law requires the State Department of Education to develop resources or, as appropriate, update existing resources for in-service training on school site and community resources for the support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) pupils, and strategies to increase support for LGBTQ pupils, as specified.
This bill would require the State Department of Education to develop resources or, as appropriate, update existing resources, for supports and community resources for the support of parents, guardians, and families of LGBTQ pupils and strategies to increase support for LGBTQ pupils, as specified.
(2) Existing law prohibits discrimination on the basis of, among other characteristics, gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance, or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid. Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt regulations to implement these provisions.
This bill would prohibit school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and the state special schools, and a member of the governing board or body of those educational entities, from enacting or enforcing any policy, rule, or administrative regulation that requires an employee or a contractor to disclose any information related to a pupil’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the pupil’s consent unless otherwise required by law, as provided.
The bill would prohibit employees or contractors of those educational entities from being required to make such a disclosure unless otherwise required by law, as provided. The bill would prohibit employees or contractors of school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, or the state special schools, or members of the governing boards or bodies of those educational entities, from retaliating or taking adverse action against an employee on the basis that the employee supported a pupil in the exercise of specified rights, work activities, or providing certain instruction, as provided.
Enrolled and presented to the Governor on 07/03/2024
THE LATEST ON THE CALIFORNIA BUDGET
Ongoing Reductions to State Operations – A reduction to state operations by approximately 7.5 percent beginning in 2024-25 to nearly all department budgets. The reduction involves all categories including personnel, operating costs and contracting for savings of $2.17 billion.
Vacant position sweep – Permanently reduce $1.5 billion in 2024/25 by reducing departments’ budgets for vacant positions.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation – A reduction of $358 million above the statewide reductions (state operations and vacant positions) for a total of $750 million in the budget window.
California Student Housing Revolving Loan Program – A reduction of $ 500 million. This reduction involves all categories, including personnel operating costs and contracting for savings of $2.17 billion to the general fund.
Learning aligned employment program – A reduction of $485 million one-time which reflects the balance of unspent one-time Learning-Aligned Employment Program resources.
Middle Class Scholarship Program – A reduction of $220 million ongoing beginning is 2025-26.
Housing – A reduction of $1.1 billion to various affordable housing programs. This action obviously does damage to the Governor’s efforts to create affordable housing.
Healthcare Workforce – A reduction of $746.1 million for various healthcare workforce programs. How does this reduction impact the expansion of Medicaid to all undocumented now added to the program.
Reductions of state and local public health – Reverts $41.5 million one time in the current year and ongoing savings of $8 million State Public Health and $15.9 million Local Public Health, which aligns with all other state 7.5% efficiency reductions. Again, greatly affecting public health agencies at the time of increased users.
Part of the budget agreement includes the Governor and Legislature pursuing multiple measures to address the conditions that led to the state’s current fiscal predicament. Proposed legislation, to be considered in August, will require the state to set aside a portion of future projected surpluses until the actual collection of funds. This responds to last year’s delayed tax collections caused by winter storms, which prevented an accurate forecast of state’s fiscal situation until after the Governor and Legislature had committed to spending more than the state would collect. (Are they not going to spend it until they have it? Sounds like it, but we will see.)
There is also a prospect that in 2026 California voters will decide on a constitutional amendment to grow the state’s main reserve account excluding certain deposits to state reserves from the 1979 state appropriations limit, which restricts the growth of expenditures for publicly funded programs. (Taking the lid off expenditures.)
More to follow next week on the budget.
COMING SOON, CONTINUUED COVERAGE OF NOVEMBER BALLOT MEASURES!
AB 440, Pellerin. Ballot measures.
Coverage in next week’s Capitol Update
Approved by the governor on 07/03/2024
Proposition numbers have been assigned; they are:
Proposition 2 through 6 and 32 through 36, awaiting detailed wording for analysis.
Ballot arguments for and against the measures are due by July 23rd.
We will be watching closely.
Legislative Portal links – Express your support or opposition to a bill or directly to the Legislative committee currently reviewing it (as an individual, not as a member of RW or GSRW) – click here, or the bill’s author – click here, enter your bill # and look for tab at top of the bill page labeled “Comments to Author”.
