BILL ANALYSIS
SB 516
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Date of Hearing: June 28, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON REVENUE AND TAXATION
Anthony J. Portantino, Chair
SB 516 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: June 15, 2010
Majority vote. Fiscal committee.
SENATE VOTE : 24-14
SUBJECT : California Youth Legislature
SUMMARY : Authorizes the addition of the California Fund for
Youth (Fund) checkoff to the personal income tax (PIT) form upon
the removal of another voluntary contribution fund (VCF) from
the form. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Fund in the State Treasury.
2)Provides that all moneys transferred to the Fund, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, shall be allocated as
follows:
a) To the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and the State
Controller for reimbursement of all costs incurred in
administering the checkoff; and,
b) The balance to the California Youth Legislature (CYL),
which this bill establishes, to be allocated for the CYL's
ongoing activities.
3)Provides that the funds allocated to the CYL shall be spent
pursuant to the purview of the Legislature's Joint Committee
on Rules (JCR) in a manner consistent with the CYL's bylaws,
created by the CYL Advisory Committee, which this bill also
establishes.
4)Provides for the automatic repeal of the Fund provisions on
either January 1 of the fifth taxable year following the first
appearance of the Fund on the tax return or on January 1 of an
earlier year, if FTB estimates that the annual contribution
amount will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for
subsequent years.
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5)Establishes the CYL, which shall be composed of two houses,
the California Youth Senate, composed of 40 members, and the
California Youth Assembly, composed of 80 members.
6)Specifies that members of the CYL shall:
a) Serve two-year terms;
b) Be ages 14 to 18;
c) Be currently enrolled in a California junior high,
middle, or high school, or participating in a nonpublic,
home-based educational program or a general equivalency
degree program; and,
d) Be appointed by the CYL Advisory Committee.
7)Provides that each Member of the Senate and each Member of the
Assembly may nominate one youth from his/her respective
district to apply for the program.
8)Provides that Members of the Legislature, in making their
nominations, and members of the CYL Advisory Committee, in
making their appointments, shall take into consideration that
the members of the CYL represent the racial, ethnic,
socioeconomic, cultural, physical, and educational diversity
of California.
9)Requires the CYL to:
a) Examine and discuss policy and fiscal issues affecting
the interests, needs, and conditions of the youth of
California;
b) Formally advise the Legislature and the Governor on
specific issues affecting youth;
c) Consult with local level youth advisory commissions and
community-based, grassroots youth-led organizations;
d) Convene and conduct meetings according to its bylaws,
created by the CYL Advisory Committee; and,
e) Enter into a mutually agreed-upon interagency agreement
with JCR to carry out administrative duties related to its
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program.
10)Establishes the CYL Advisory Committee to serve as the
advisory board to the CYL regarding development,
implementation, and administration of the program.
11)Provides that the CYL Advisory Committee shall be chaired by
the chair of the JCR, or his/her designee. JCR shall appoint
members of the CYL Advisory Committee.
12)Provides that the CYL Advisory Committee shall be composed of
appointed representatives from:
a) Statewide nonprofit youth organizations;
b) Community-based nonprofit organizations that serve youth
or youth-related issues; and,
c) An appointed representative of a local education agency
or school district or its appointed designee.
13)Requires members of the CYL Advisory Committee to have:
a) Experience and training working with youths; and,
b) Special experience in civic engagement and advocacy and
at least one of the following issue areas affecting youth:
i) Crisis prevention or intervention;
ii) Drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse prevention or
intervention;
iii) Foster care;
iv) Juvenile justice;
v) Homelessness;
vi) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights and
social justice; and/or,
vii) Mental health.
14)Requires the CYL Advisory Committee to:
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a) Submit an annual budget and report to JCR;
b) Determine when there are sufficient funds to support the
program. (If the CYL Advisory Committee determines there
are insufficient funds to cover all costs, the activities
of the CYL shall cease.);
c) Develop and provide applications for the CYL;
d) Collect applications from youths who have been nominated
by legislators and other youths who would like to apply;
e) Provide legislators with information on the program to
promote in their districts;
f) Provide outreach to various youth organizations to
promote the program and make available applications; and,
g) Establish criteria for the selection of youths, collect
applications, and make appointments based on the
applications submitted.
15)Prohibits the CYL Advisory Committee from discriminating on
the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin,
age, gender, marital status, sex, or sexual orientation.
16)Allows the CYL Advisory Committee to develop criteria for
granting of funds to a nonprofit agency with experience
serving disconnected or at-risk youths to administer the CYL
or various duties required by this bill.
17)Provides that the funds for the CYL shall be allocated from
the Fund or private funds directed to JCR and allocated to the
CYL Advisory Committee for the purpose of funding the CYL's
activities.
18)Allows the CYL to accept gifts and grants from any source,
public or private, to help perform its functions.
19)Grants the CYL Advisory Committee the authority to define its
program and use its funds in any way necessary to carry out
the duties of this bill, as long as the program or activity is
not in violation of a state law or regulation.
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20)Allows the CYL Advisory Committee to grant funds to a
nonprofit agency to administer the CYL. No more than 5% of
the grant award may be used for administrative costs of the
selected agency.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows taxpayers to designate on their PIT returns a
contribution to any of 15 VCFs.
2)Provides a specific sunset date for each VCF, except the
California Seniors Special Fund.
3)Provides that each VCF must meet a minimum annual contribution
amount to remain in effect, except for the California Seniors
Special Fund, the California Firefighters' Memorial Fund, and
the California Peace Officer Memorial Foundation Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : Committee staff estimate annual revenue losses,
beginning in fiscal year 2011-12, of $15,000 resulting from
itemized deductions.
COMMENTS :
1)The author states:
SB 516 will create, in the State Treasury . . . the
California Fund for Youth to receive contributions from tax
return designations to support the sessions of the Youth
Legislature and to support its ongoing activities on behalf
of youth.
SB 516 will establish the California Youth Legislature to
provide model legislation and advocate for the needs of
youth. This will model healthy civic engagement for youth
while utilizing their unique insights to best inform the
very policies and practices intended to serve them.
Many states and local governments have made a commitment to
help youth mature into successful adults. The California
Youth Legislature will be a guiding framework to improve
[the] coordination and effectiveness of youth programs, and
to include youth in policy and decision making. Nationally
youth commissions are being developed and implemented in at
least 20 states.
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SB 516 asks that there be a particular emphasis placed on
reaching out to at-risk or disadvantaged youth to serve as
members of the California Youth Legislature, as their
participation will provide keen insight [into] many of the
issues that youth face in their day-to-day lives.
2)Proponents state:
By establishing the California Youth Legislature, modeled
after the state legislature, California would provide a
forum for youth participation in the policy process as well
as foster and develop leadership among its active
participants. This structure would enable an ongoing
reciprocation between those developing the policies
affecting youth and the youth such policies are intended to
serve.
3)Opponents state:
It is duplicative and wasteful to create a state
bureaucracy to design and implement what organizations such
as YMCA Youth & Government have been doing for decades. As
amended, SB 516 creates a shadow program that will benefit
few California youth while pretending otherwise to
California taxpayers.
In a time when Californians are demanding more efficient
government, creating new state bureaucracies to duplicate
what other organizations already do well flies in the face
of common sense and good public policy. Strong
partnerships between government and existing, effective
nonprofit programs are a win-win.
4)Committee Staff Comments:
a) The California Senior Legislature : This bill is roughly
modeled after the successful California Senior Legislature,
which is supported by the California Fund for Senior
Citizens checkoff on the PIT return. The California Senior
Legislature notes that, since 1981, it has labored to
identify, develop, and support legislative proposals that
protect and enhance the quality of life of California's
seniors. This bill would establish a similar Legislature
comprised of young Californians to advocate for the
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interests of youth.
b) The YMCA Youth and Government Model Legislature : The
California State Alliance of YMCAs (YMCA) has expressed
opposition to prior versions of this bill. Specifically,
YMCA has argued that this bill would establish a
duplicative Youth Legislature and that Fund moneys should
be dedicated to the existing YMCA Youth and Government
Model Legislature program, which was established in 1949.
In response, the author has argued that the CYL is not
duplicative of the YMCA program. To this end, the author
has stated, "These are distinct programs, both covering
different aspects of civic engagement and education. The
YMCA's Youth in Government program is a mock legislature
dealing with all issues while the California Youth
Legislature focuses on youth issues and provides counsel to
the California Legislature." Furthermore, the author has
noted that there are at least nine other states that have
both a YMCA program and a legislative youth advisory
council.
c) The Most Recent Amendments : The most recent set of
amendments were taken in an attempt to ameliorate some of
the concerns raised by YMCA regarding the establishment of
a duplicative program. However, these amendments have also
created a remarkably complicated oversight and governance
structure for the proposed CYL. Potentially, the following
four entities would have a role in administering the new
CYL:
i) The JCR : This bill provides that money allocated to
the CYL shall be spent "pursuant to the purview" of the
JCR in a manner consistent with the CYL's bylaws. The
CYL would also be required to enter into a mutually
agreed-upon "interagency agreement" with JCR to carry out
administrative duties related to the program. In
addition, JCR's chair would serve as the chair of the CYL
Advisory Committee, and JCR would be responsible for
appointing members of the CYL Advisory Committee.
Finally, this bill provides that the funds for the CYL
shall be allocated from the Fund or private funds
directed to JCR and allocated to the CYL Advisory
Committee for the purpose of funding the CYL's
activities.
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ii) The CYL Advisory Committee : Among other things, the
CYL Advisory Committee would be responsible for
appointing CYL members, establishing the CYL's bylaws,
submitting an annual budget and report to JCR,
determining when there are sufficient funds to support
the program, and providing legislators with information
on the program to promote in their districts.
iii) The Legislature : This bill grants each Member of
the Legislature the ability to nominate one youth from
his/her district to apply for the program. As noted
above, however, the CYL Advisory Committee would actually
appoint members of the CYL, and the application process
would be open to all youths meeting the statutory
application criteria.
iv) An Unnamed Nonprofit Agency : This bill allows the
CYL Advisory Committee to develop criteria for granting
funds to a "nonprofit agency" with experience serving
disconnected or at-risk youths to administer the CYL.
The bill also provides that no more than 5% of the grant
award may be used for the agency's administrative costs.
It is not clear to Committee staff, however, what role
the selected agency would actually play in this
multi-tiered administrative structure.
d) A Case of Administrative Overkill? : The California Fund
for Senior Citizens, which supports the California Senior
Legislature, has received an average of roughly $295,000 in
contributions each year over the past three years.
Assuming the Fund receives a similar level of financial
support, Committee staff question whether this bill's
administrative structure is out of proportion to the amount
of money at issue. In addition, would Fund moneys be made
available to cover the costs of running both the CYL and
the CYL Advisory Committee?
e) Current VCF bills : The following related bills are
pending in the current Legislative Session:
i) AB 1088 (Fletcher) authorizes the addition of the
California Veterans Homes Fund checkoff to the PIT form
upon the removal of another VCF from the form. AB 1088
was heard in the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation
on June 23, 2010 and passed out of that Committee on a
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3-2 vote.
ii) AB 1983 (Torrico) authorizes the addition of the
Safely Surrendered Baby Fund checkoff to the PIT form
upon the removal of another VCF from the form. AB 1983
was heard in the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation
on June 23, 2010 and passed out of that Committee on a
3-2 vote.
iii) AB 2017 (Hall) authorizes the addition of the
California YMCA Youth and Government Fund checkoff to the
PIT form upon the removal of another VCF from the form.
AB 2017 is supported by YMCA and would fund its existing
Youth and Government Program. AB 2017 is currently
pending in the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation.
iv) SB 1076 (Price) authorizes the addition of the Arts
Council Fund checkoff to the PIT form upon the removal of
another VCF from the form. SB 1076 is set to be heard in
this Committee along with this bill.
f) Double referral : This bill was double-referred with the
Assembly Committee on Human Services, and passed out of
that committee on a 4-2 vote on June 30, 2009. For further
discussion of this bill, please refer to that committee's
analysis.
g) Technical amendments : Committee staff recommends the
following technical amendments to this bill:
i) Delete "pursuant to Section 18736" on page 4, line
6;
ii) Delete "This" and insert "Except as otherwise
provided in subdivision (b), this" on page 4, line 25;
iii) Insert ", unless a later enacted statute, that is
enacted before the applicable date, deletes or extends
that date" after "repealed" on page 4, line 28;
iv) Replace the word "policies" with "policy" on page 6,
line 25;
v) Replace the word "to" with "into" on page 8, line 7;
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vi) Insert "California" before "Youth" on page 9, line
5; and,
vii) Insert "California" before "Youth" on page 9, line
14.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Coalition for Youth
Home Start, Inc.
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Youth Network
Redwood Community Action Agency
Opposition
The Safe Cities Foundation
Analysis Prepared by : M. David Ruff / REV. & TAX. / (916)
319-2098