BILL NUMBER: AB 39	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Beall

                        DECEMBER 6, 2010

   An act relating to special education, making an appropriation
therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 39, as introduced, Beall. Special education: funding.
   Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative
measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63, establishes the
Mental Health Services Fund to fund specified county mental health
programs. The act provides that all moneys in the Mental Health
Services Fund are continuously appropriated to the State Department
of Mental Health. The act may be amended only by a 2/3 vote of both
houses of the Legislature and only so long as the amendment is
consistent with and furthers the intent of the act.
   This bill would require the department to allocate $57,000,000 of
those moneys to county mental health departments for purposes of
providing special education services, thereby making an
appropriation. The bill also would require the Superintendent of
Public Instruction and county mental health directors to jointly
convene a technical working group to develop a transitional program
to transfer the responsibilities associated with providing special
education services from county mental health departments to the State
Department of Education.
   This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the
Mental Health Services Act.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  (a) From the moneys continuously appropriated from the
Mental Health Services Fund pursuant to Section 5890 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code, the State Department of Mental Health shall
allocate the sum of fifty-seven million dollars ($57,000,000) to
county mental health departments for purposes of providing special
education services.
   (b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction and county mental
health directors shall jointly convene a technical working group to
develop a transitional program to transfer the responsibilities
associated with providing special education services from county
mental health departments to the State Department of Education.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that this act further
the purposes of the Mental Health Services Act.
  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 for pupils to continue to receive all of the special
education services they need at the earliest possible time, it is
necessary for this act to take effect immediately.