BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
199 (Ducheny)
Hearing Date: 05/04/09 Amended: 04/22/09
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 6-1
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 199 would eliminate the sunset date of the
California Subject Matter Projects and would add the California
Arts Project, the California Foreign Language Project, and the
California Physical Education-Health Project to those projects
authorized under current law. The bill would also modify the
composition of the advisory committee and extend training
eligibility to career technical education teachers.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
New CSMPs $2,000 $2,000
$2,000 General/Federal
Eliminate sunset Annual costs of
$9.85 million, General/Federal
as of 2012-13 fiscal year
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
The California Subject Matter Projects (CSMP) are an alliance of
academic networks that provide intensive K-12 standards-aligned
professional development to teachers and administrators. They
are administered by the University of California (UC) and have
been operative since 1988. Currently, six subject matters are
specifically authorized, including writing, reading and
literature, mathematics, science, history-social science, and
world history/international studies. Data from the 2007-08
fiscal year indicate participation from over 1,000 local
education agencies and over 41,000 individuals. The 2008-09
Budget Act appropriates a total of $9.85 million for the CSMP in
federal Title II funds. Authorization for the CSMP expires on
June 30, 2012.
This bill proposes to eliminate the sunset date and would expand
the subject matters for which UC is authorized to administer.
By extending the sunset date, this bill creates pressure to
continue the existing funding stream. By formally authorizing 3
new projects, the bill would create additional pressure to fund
their costs. Data provided by UC for earlier legislation
suggests the cost for operating these 3 projects is
approximately $2 million. In prior years, the costs of the
program have been split between General and Federal funds, so it
is unclear what funds will be utilized to support the program in
future years.
Until 1998, authorized CSMP subject matters included arts,
foreign language, and physical education-health. Those areas
were deleted from statute in order to focus state funds on core
academic subject areas. Current law allows UC the discretion to
operate projects in addition to those authorized in statute, and
UC has chosen to continue operating projects in the 3 areas
added by this bill.