BILL NUMBER: AB 2560	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 15, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 14, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Brownley
   (Coauthor: Senator Hancock)

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2010

   An act to add Section 12001.6 to the Education Code, relating to
education finance  , and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately .


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2560, as amended, Brownley. Education finance: federal tax
credit bond volume cap.
   Existing law assigns specified amounts of the state's 2009 federal
tax credit bond volume cap to the State Department of Education and
the California School Finance Authority, to be assigned and
distributed to school districts, county offices of education, and
charter schools, as specified.
   This bill would authorize the department to assign and distribute
the state's 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified
school construction bonds to or for the benefit of school districts
and county offices of education and would authorize the authority to
assign and distribute the state's 2010 federal tax credit bond volume
cap for qualified school construction bonds to or for the benefit of
charter schools, or to be further assigned and distributed to one or
more issuers in the state for the benefit of charter schools, as
determined by the authority. 
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute. 
   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) In 2009, the United States Congress passed and the President
signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  of
2009  (Public Law 111-5) in order to provide funding and other
economic stimulus to foster economic recovery among the states.
   (b) The federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school
construction bonds is included in the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act  of 2009  and can be used to lower the cost
of financing the construction, rehabilitation, or repair of a public
school facility or for the acquisition of land where a school will
be built.
   (c) On March 17, 2010, the United States Department of the
Treasury released the second  and final  allocation
authority of eleven billion dollars ($11,000,000,000) in federal tax
credit bond volume cap for  the issuance of  qualified
school construction  bond   bonds  , of
which six billion six hundred million dollars ($6,600,000,000) will
be allocated directly to the states and four billion four hundred
million dollars ($4,400,000,000) will be allocated to 103 large,
local educational agencies based upon the enrollment of pupils who
qualify for the federal free or reduced price meal program.
   (d) In order to allocate the seven hundred twenty million
fifty-eight thousand dollars ($720,058,000) in federal tax credit
bond volume cap for qualified school construction bonds provided to
California in 2010, this act is necessary to provide the authority to
the department and the California School Finance Authority to make
distributions to local educational agencies and eligible charter
schools.
  SEC. 2.  Section 12001.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   12001.6.  (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school construction
bonds designated  for the state   to California
 by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(Public Law 111-5), together with Internal Revenue Service Notice
2010-17 issued pursuant thereto, does not constitute federal moneys,
federal funds, or funds of any kind for any purpose under this code.
   (b) The department is authorized to assign and distribute the
state's 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school
construction bonds to or for the benefit of school districts and
county offices of education in the state. 
   (c) There is hereby assigned to the department six hundred
fifty-one million six hundred fifty-two thousand dollars
($651,652,000) of the state's 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap
for qualified school construction bonds.  
   (1) A school district or county office of education may apply for
the federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school
construction bonds if it meets all of the following eligibility
criteria:  
   (A) The project for which the federal qualified school
construction bond authorization may be applied received approval from
the Division of the State Architect before the application was
submitted.  
   (B) The project is funded by local voter approved bonds issued by
the school district. A county office of education and a school
district with an enrollment of 2,500 or less may use other forms of
financing with the submission of a resolution adopted by the county
board of education or governing board of the school district
authorizing the issuance of the financing.  
   (C) The governing board of the school district or county board of
education has adopted a resolution committing the district or county
office to meet or exceed the criteria of the Collaborative for High
Performance Schools or the criteria on sustainable school design,
construction, and operation of the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design and commits the district or county office to
ensure that every new school, new building, and major modernization
project meets those criteria.  
   (2) A school district or county office of education that received
a 2009 federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school
construction bonds is not eligible to apply.  
   (3) A school district or county office of education that received
a 2009 or 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified
school construction bond allocation from the United States Department
of the Treasury is not eligible to apply. 
   (4) Five business days after the enactment of this legislation,
the department shall post the application form on its Internet Web
site.  
   (A) An application must be submitted via certified mail. 

   (B) An application may not be postmarked until 20 business days
after the enactment of this legislation.  
   (C) An application shall include the total number of enrolled
pupils who qualify for the federal free and reduced priced meal
program and the total overall pupil enrollment for the 2008-09 school
year.  
   (5) An application not meeting the conditions set forth in
paragraphs (1) and (4) shall be returned to the applicant.  

   (6) Applications meeting the conditions set forth in paragraphs
(1) and (4) shall be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis by
date of postmark. If this program is oversubscribed, order of
allocation shall be established using the following criteria: 

   (A) First, earliest date of postmark.  
   (B) Second, the greater percentage of pupils who qualify for the
federal free and reduced priced meals program and are enrolled in the
applying school district or county office of education in the
2008-09 school year. The department shall certify the number of
pupils who qualify and the overall enrollment and calculate the
percentage to the nearest one-hundredth of 1 percent.  
   (7) The department shall authorize the 2010 federal tax credit
bond volume cap for qualified school construction bonds no sooner
than December 1, 2010.  
   (8) The department shall maintain a waiting list of eligible
school districts and county offices of education that did not receive
an allocation in the order established pursuant to paragraph (6).
 
   (9) An applicant may not apply for more than twenty-five million
dollars ($25,000,000) of 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap for
qualified school construction bonds.  
   (10) A school district or county office of education applying for
2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school
construction bonds authorization shall certify in its application
that it will fulfill all of the federal qualified school construction
bond program requirements.  
   (11) Fifteen days after bond issuance, the school district or
county office of education shall submit to the department a copy of
the appropriate federal Internal Revenue Service Form, Information
Return for Tax-Exempt Bonds, as confirmation of issuance.  
   (12) Thirty days after the completion of the expenditure the
recipient shall submit a completion report to the department. The
completion report must be certified by the bond counsel of the school
district or county office of education.  
   (13) If any or all of the federal qualified school construction
bond authorizations to a school district or county office of
education are not issued within six months from the date of
authorization, any or all unused federal qualified school
construction bond authorizations shall revert to the department. No
extensions shall be provided.  
   (A) The department shall reallocate any remaining federal
qualified school construction bond allocation to school districts or
county offices of education that were eligible and applied for the
authorization but did not receive an allocation.  
   (B) Reverted 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified
school construction bonds shall be allocated to school districts or
county offices of education pursuant to the order of priority
established by paragraph (6).  
   (C) The department shall allocate reverted federal qualified
school construction bond authorizations as they are available and
until all are issued.  
   (c) 
    (d)    The California School Finance Authority,
established pursuant to Section 17172, is authorized to assign and
distribute the state's 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap for
qualified school construction bonds to or for the benefit of charter
schools, or to be further assigned and distributed to one or more
issuers in the state for the benefit of charter schools, as
determined by the authority. 
   (1) There is hereby assigned to the California School Finance
Authority, established pursuant to Section 17172, sixty-eight million
four hundred six thousand dollars ($68,406,000) of the state's 2010
federal tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school construction
bonds, to be issued for the benefit of charter schools, or to be
further assigned and distributed to one or more issuers in the state
for the benefit of charter schools, as the authority shall determine.
 
   (2) The parameters specified in "Borrowing Authority Parameters
and Application," dated February 10, 2010, as developed by the
California School Finance Authority and referenced in Resolution
10-04 of the authority, shall apply to all applications submitted to
the California School Finance Authority for the state's 2010 federal
tax credit bond volume cap for qualified school construction bonds.
If an applicant uses any 2010 federal tax credit bond volume cap in
conjunction with a bond that will serve as a local match for purposes
of the Charter School Facilities Program established by Section
17078.52, the applicant, in addition to the requirements of this
section, shall comply with all of the requirements of the Charter
School Facilities Program. 
   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:
 
   In order to access federal stimulus tax credits at the earliest
possible opportunity, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.