BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
516 (DeSaulnier)
Hearing Date: 05/28/2009 Amended: 04/29/2009
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: Rev&Tax 5-2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 516 would establish the California Youth
Legislature to examine issues affecting youth in California,
advise and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature
on specified topics, provide model legislation, and advocate for
youth needs. This bill would also establish the California Fund
for Youth and would establish a tax-checkoff program for up to
five years to allow taxpayers to designate contributions to the
fund on their income tax returns.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Youth Legislature $200 $200
Special*/
Private
Taxpayer donations (revenue) ($250)
($250)Special*
Tax revenue loss $16 $16 General
FTB administration minor annual administrative costs,
General
reimbursed from donations
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* California Fund for Youth
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Tax check-off program
Currently, there are 15 "check-off" programs on the personal
income tax return which allow taxpayers to donate their own
funds for various purposes. Generally, each tax check-off
program has a specific sunset date and an initial contribution
limit of $250,000, adjusted annually for inflation, with
specified exceptions. Donations to check-off programs are
deductable as charitable contributions on taxpayers' tax returns
during the subsequent tax year.
SB 516 would establish the California Fund for Youth check-off
program, which cannot be added to income tax forms until
Franchise Tax Board (FTB) removes an existing voluntary
contribution program. The designation would appear on tax forms
for five years unless contributions do not meet the minimum
threshold of $250,000 per year, adjusted for inflation, in which
case the check-off program would be repealed.
Assuming the check-off appears on the 2009 tax return and the
minimum donation amount is achieved, the estimated tax revenue
loss would be about $15,625 annually (applying the average
marginal tax rate of 6.25%), beginning in 2010-11, because
contributions would be claimed as an itemized deduction in the
following tax year. Costs for the Franchise Tax Board to
administer the program are minor and are reimbursed from donated
amounts.
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SB 516 (DeSaulnier)
California Youth Legislature
SB 516 would require each state legislator to appoint a member
of the California Youth Legislature. This body would examine
issues affecting youth in California, advise and make
recommendations to the Governor and Legislature on specified
topics, provide model legislation, consult with other groups for
input on youth issues, and advocate for youth needs. The bill
would require the Youth Legislature to enter into an
inter-agency agreement by May 1, 2010 with a state agency to
carry out administrative duties. Furthermore, the Youth
Legislature could accept gifts and grants from any source,
public or private, to help perform its functions.
The Youth Legislature established by this bill appears to be
modeled after the Senior Legislature, which was established in
1980 for the purpose of identifying priority senior concerns,
developing legislative proposals in response to those concerns,
and advocating for the needs of seniors. Senior Legislature has
one full-time staff person at a cost of $64,000 per year and
identified operating expenses and equipment costs of $196,000 in
the current fiscal year. For purposes of comparison, staff
estimates that the Youth Legislature would require comparable
revenues. SB 516 would create General Fund cost pressures to
the extent that insufficient funds are raised, either through
private donations or the tax checkoff program, to support the
Youth Legislature.
Staff notes that the Youth Legislature appears to be duplicative
of the California YMCA Youth and Government's Model Legislature
and Court program, which has been active for 61 years. The
Model Legislature and Court is a program that involves more than
2,000 high school students and 250 volunteers statewide in a
nine-month hands on experience that simulates state government.
This program is focused on youth participation in government,
but does not solely address issues affecting youth. The YMCA
Model Legislature and Court program is supported by over
$200,000 in revenues from fundraising efforts, and individual
teen delegates also receive family support and scholarships
awarded by the Governor George Deukmejian Endowment Fund.
Staff notes that AB 2252 (DeSaulnier), which was vetoed by the
Governor in 2008, would have established a California Commission
on Youth to examine and discuss policy and fiscal issues
affecting the interests, needs, and conditions of the youth of
California, and to formally advise and make recommendations on
specific issues affecting youth. The veto message stated the
following:
I agree that youth offer a unique and thoughtful
perspective on issues that affect California. However,
this bill is duplicative of efforts currently underway by
the Child Welfare Council established under the Child
Welfare Leadership and Performance Accountability Act of
2006 and the State Youth Council. Furthermore, the
Administration and the Legislature already have the
authority to create councils to advise them, rendering this
bill unnecessary.
Proposed amendments would: (1) delete language that requires a
date certain for identification of a collaborating state agency;
(2) require the interagency agreement to provide for
reimbursement to the collaborating state agency from Youth
Legislature funds; (3) specify that Youth Legislature activities
shall not be initiated or continued unless sufficient funding is
deposited into the California Fund for Youth to fully support
the program; and (4) specify that funding shall only come from
non-state sources.