BILL NUMBER: AB 331 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brownley
FEBRUARY 10, 2011
An act to amend Sections 17070.20, 17070.95, 17070.955, 17071.75,
17072.32, 17074.15, 17074.16, 17074.26, and 17076.10 of the Education
Code, and to amend Section 15490 of the Government Code, relating to
school facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 331, as introduced, Brownley. The Leroy F. Greene School
Facilities Act of 1998.
(1) Existing law, the California Constitution, prohibits the
Legislature from creating a debt or liability that singly or in the
aggregate with any previous debts or liabilities exceeds the sum of
$300,000, except by an act that (A) authorizes the debt for a single
object or work specified in the act, (B) has been passed by a 2/3
vote of all the Members elected to each house of the Legislature, (C)
has been submitted to the people at a statewide general or primary
election, and (D) has received a majority of all the votes cast for
and against it at that election.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would create the Kindergarten-University Public
Education Facilities Bond Act of 2012, a state general obligation
bond act that would provide funds to construct and modernize
education facilities, to become operative only if approved by the
voters at the next statewide general election, and to provide for the
submission of the bond act to the voters at that election.
(2) The Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 (Greene Act)
requires the State Allocation Board (board) to allocate to applicant
school districts prescribed per-unhoused-pupil state funding for
construction and modernization of school facilities, including
hardship funding, and supplemental funding for site development and
acquisition. Existing law requires the Director of General Services
to administer the Greene Act and authorizes the board to appoint an
assistant executive officer, employ additional staff members and
secure office space and furnishings to support the assistant
executive officer, and fix the salary and compensation of the
assistant executive officer.
This bill instead would require the Director of General Services
to administer the Greene Act at the direction of the board and
pursuant to regulations adopted by the board and would authorize the
board to appoint its legal counsel, employ additional staff members
and secure office space and furnishings to support the legal counsel,
and fix the salary and compensation of the legal counsel.
(3) Existing law, requires a school district, in consultation with
the local career technical education advisory committee, to certify
it has considered the need for vocational and career technical
facilities to adequately meet its program needs and requires the
committee to provide written confirmation that the need for
vocational and career technical facilities is being adequately met
within the district.
This bill would exempt elementary school construction and
modernization projects from the requirements regarding the adequacy
of vocational and career technical facilities described above.
(4) Existing law requires a school district that applies to
receive funding for new construction to determine projected
enrollment for the 5th year beyond the fiscal year in which the
application is made and authorizes a school district to submit an
enrollment projection for the 5th or 10th year beyond the fiscal year
in which the application is made.
This bill would allow the school district to calculate projected
enrollment for the 5th or 10th year beyond the fiscal year in which
the application is made.
(5) Existing law requires the ongoing eligibility of a school
district for new construction funding to be determined by making
specified calculations, one of which is to add the number of pupils
that may be adequately housed in the existing school building
capacity of a school district to the number of pupils for whom
facilities were provided from any state or local funding source after
the existing school building capacity was determined.
This bill would revise the calculation described above by
specifying that the 2nd addend is the number of pupils for whom
permanent facilities were provided from any state source or permanent
facilities provided entirely from a local funding source after the
existing school building capacity was determined.
(6) Existing law requires that funding for an approved new
construction school facilities project be released equal to the
amount of the local match when the school district certifies that it
has entered into a binding contract for completion of the project.
The same certification is required to be made in connection with the
release of disbursements for modernization projects. If the school
district receives an apportionment, but has not met the criteria to
have funds released within a period established by the board, but not
to exceed 18 months, the board is required to rescind the
apportionment and deny the district's application.
This bill would require the school district instead to certify
that it has entered into a binding contract for professional services
or for construction, or both, in order to complete the approved
project. The bill would no longer authorize the board to establish a
period of less than 18 months within which a school district is
allowed to meet the criteria to have funds released and would
establish 18 months as that period. The board would be authorized, at
its discretion, to extend the 18-month period.
(7) This bill would correct an erroneous cross-reference and make
other technical, nonsubstantive changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would create the Kindergarten-University Public
Education Facilities Bond Act of 2012, to become operative only if
approved by the voters at the next statewide general election, and to
provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at that
election. It is also the intent of the Legislature that the bond act,
if approved by the voters at that election would provide for the
issuance of ____ ($____) of state general obligation bonds to provide
aid to school districts, county superintendents of schools, county
boards of education, the California Community Colleges, the
University of California, the Hastings College of the Law, and the
California State University to construct and modernize education
facilities.
SEC. 2. Section 17070.20 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17070.20. The Director of General Services shall administer this
chapter at the direction of the board and pursuant to
regulations adopted as specified in Section 17070.35 and shall
provide assistance to the board as it requires.
SEC. 3. Section 17070.95 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17070.95. (a) As a part of its application
for large construction and modernization projects, a school district
shall certify, in consultation with the career technical education
advisory committee established pursuant to Section 8070, that it has
considered the need for vocational and career technical facilities to
adequately meet its program needs consistent with Section 51224,
subdivision (b) of Section 51225.3, and Section 52336.1. The board
shall adopt regulations necessary for administration of this section.
(b) This section does not apply to elementary school construction
and modernization projects.
SEC. 4. Section 17070.955 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
17070.955. (a) In conjunction with an
application of a school district for any construction or
modernization project, and as a condition of the district receiving
funds for the project, the career technical education advisory
committee for the district shall provide written confirmation that
the need for vocational and career technical facilities is being
adequately met within the district consistent with Section 51224,
subdivision (b) of Section 51225.3, subdivision (b) of Section 51228,
and Section 52336.1.
(b) This section does not apply to elementary school construction
and modernization projects.
SEC. 5. Section 17071.75 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17071.75. After a one-time initial report of existing school
building capacity has been completed, the ongoing eligibility of a
school district for new construction funding shall be determined by
making all of the following calculations:
(a) A school district that applies to receive funding for new
construction shall use the following methods to determine projected
enrollment:
(1) A school district that has two or more schoolsites each with a
pupil population density that is greater than 115 pupils per acre in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, or a schoolsite pupil
population density that is greater than 90 pupils per acre in grades
7 to 12, inclusive, as determined by the Superintendent using
enrollment data from the California Basic Educational Data System for
the 2004-05 school year, may submit an application for funding for
projects that will relieve overcrowded conditions. That school
district may also submit an alternative enrollment projection for the
fifth year beyond the fiscal year in which the application is made
using a methodology other than the cohort survival enrollment
projection method as defined by the board pursuant to paragraph (2),
to be reviewed by the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of
Finance, in consultation with the department and the Office of Public
School Construction. If the Office of Public School Construction and
the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of Finance jointly
determine that the alternative enrollment projection provides a
reasonable estimate of expected enrollment demand, a recommendation
shall be forwarded to the board to approve or disapprove the
application, in accordance with all of the following:
(A) Total funding for new construction projects using this method
shall be limited to five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000), from
the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of
2004.
(B) The eligibility amount for proposed projects that relieve
overcrowding is the difference between the alternative enrollment
projection method for the year the application is submitted and the
cohort survival enrollment projection method, as defined by paragraph
(2), for the same year, adjusted by the existing pupil capacity in
excess of the projected enrollment according to the cohort survival
enrollment projection method.
(C) The Office of Public School Construction shall determine
whether each proposed project will relieve overcrowding, including,
but not limited to, the elimination of the use of Concept 6
calendars, four track year-round calendars, or busing in excess of 40
minutes, and recommend approval to the board. The number of unhoused
pupil grants requested in the application for funding from the
eligibility determined pursuant to this paragraph shall be limited to
the number of seats necessary to relieve overcrowding, including,
but not limited to, the elimination of the use of Concept 6
calendars, four track year-round calendars, or busing in excess of 40
minutes, less the number of unhoused pupil grants attributed to that
school as a source school in an approved application pursuant to
Section 17078.24.
(D) A school district shall use the same alternative enrollment
projection methodology for all applications submitted pursuant to
this paragraph and shall calculate those projections in accordance
with the same districtwide or high school attendance area used for
the enrollment projection made pursuant to paragraph (2).
(2) A school district shall calculate enrollment projections for
the fifth or 10th year beyond the fiscal year in which the
application is made. Projected enrollment shall be determined by
utilizing the cohort survival enrollment projection system, as
defined and approved by the board. The board may supplement the
cohort survival enrollment projection with any of the following:
(A) The number of unhoused pupils that are anticipated as a result
of dwelling units proposed pursuant to approved and valid tentative
subdivision maps.
(B) Modified weighting mechanisms, if the board determines that
they best represent the enrollment trends of the district. Mechanisms
pursuant to this subparagraph shall be developed and applied in
consultation with the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of
Finance.
(C) An adjustment to reflect the effects on kindergarten and first
grade enrollment of changes in birth rates within the school
district or high school attendance area boundaries.
(3) (A) A school district
may submit an enrollment projection for either a 5th year or a 10th
year beyond the fiscal year in which the application is made. A
school district that bases its enrollment projection calculation on a
high school attendance area may use pupil residence in that
attendance area to calculate enrollment. A school district that
utilizes pupil residence shall do so for all high school attendance
areas within the district. A pupil shall not be included in a high
school attendance area enrollment projection based on pupil residence
unless that pupil was included in the California Basic Educational
Data System (CBEDS) report of the district for the same enrollment
year. The board may require a district to provide a reconciliation of
the districtwide CBEDS and residency data. The board also may adopt
regulations to specify the format and certification requirements for
a school district that submits residency data.
(b) (1) Add the number of pupils that may be adequately housed in
the existing school building capacity of the applicant school
district as determined pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section
17071.10) to the number of pupils for whom permanent facilities were
provided from any state source or permanent
facilities provided entirely from a local funding source after
the existing school building capacity was determined pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 17071.10). For this purpose, the
total number of pupils for whom facilities were provided shall be
determined using the pupil loading formula set forth in
Section Sections 17071.25 and 17071.30
.
(2) Subtract from the number of pupils calculated in paragraph (1)
the number of pupils that were housed in facilities to which the
school district or county office of education relinquished title as
the result of a transfer of a special education program between a
school district and a county office of education or special education
local plan area, if applicable. For this purpose, the total number
of pupils that were housed in the facilities to which title was
relinquished shall be determined using the pupil loading formula
adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 17071.25. For purposes of this paragraph,
title also includes any lease interest with a duration of greater
than five years.
(c) Subtract the number of pupils pursuant to subdivision (b) from
the number of pupils determined pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a).
(d) The calculations required to establish eligibility under this
article shall result in a distinction between the number of existing
unhoused pupils and the number of projected unhoused pupils.
(e) Apply the increase or decrease resulting from the difference
between the most recent report made pursuant to Section 42268, and
the report used in determining the baseline capacity of the school
district pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 17071.25.
(f) For purposes of calculating projected enrollment pursuant to
subdivision (a), the board may adopt regulations to ensure that the
enrollment calculation of individuals with exceptional needs
receiving special education services is adjusted in the enrollment
reporting period in which the transfer occurs and three previous
school years as a result of a transfer of a special education program
between a school district and a county office of education or a
special education local plan area. However, the projected enrollment
calculation of a county office of education shall only be adjusted if
a transfer of title for the special education program facilities has
occurred. The regulations, if adopted, shall ensure that if a
transfer of title to special education program facilities constructed
with state funds occurs within 10 years after initial occupancy of
the facility, the receiving school district or school districts shall
remit to the state a proportionate share of any financial hardship
assistance provided for the project pursuant to Section 17075.10, if
applicable.
(g) For a school district with an enrollment of 2,500 or less, an
adjustment in enrollment projections shall not result in a loss of
ongoing eligibility to that school district for a period of three
years from the date of the approval of eligibility by the board.
SEC. 6. Section 17072.32 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17072.32. (a) For any
project that has received an apportionment pursuant to Section
17072.30, funding shall be released in amounts equal to the amount of
the local match upon certification by the school district that the
school district has entered into a binding contract for
completion of for professional services or for
construction, or both, in order to complete the approved
project.
(b) This section is operative January 1, 2008.
SEC. 7. Section 17074.15 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17074.15. (a) The board shall release disbursements to school
districts with approved applications for modernization, to the extent
state funds are available for the state's 80-percent share, and the
school district has provided its 20-percent local match. Subject to
the availability of funds, the board shall apportion funds to an
eligible school district only upon the approval of the project by the
Department of General Services pursuant to the Field Act, as defined
in Section 17281, including, but not limited to, a project that
complies with the Field Act by complying with Section 17280.5, and
evidence that the certification by the school district that the
required 20-percent matching funds from local sources have been
expended by the district for the project, or have been deposited in
the county fund or will be expended by the district by the time of
completion of the project, and evidence that the district has entered
into a binding contract for the completion of that
professional services or for construction, or both, in
order to complete the project. If state funds are insufficient
to fund all qualifying school districts, the board shall fund all
qualifying school districts in the order in which the application for
funding was approved by the board.
(b) This section shall apply only to an application filed on or
before April 29, 2002, regardless of the source of state bond
funding.
SEC. 8. Section 17074.16 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17074.16. (a) The board shall release disbursements to school
districts with approved applications for modernization, to the extent
state funds are available for the state's 60-percent share, and the
school district has provided its 40-percent local match. Subject to
the availability of funds, the board shall apportion funds to an
eligible school district only upon the approval of the project by the
Department of General Services pursuant to the Field Act, as defined
in Section 17281, including, but not limited to, a project that
complies with the Field Act by complying with Section 17280.5, and
evidence that the certification by the school district that the
required 40-percent matching funds from local sources have been
expended by the district for the project, or have been deposited in
the county fund or will be expended by the district by the time of
completion of the project, and evidence that the district has entered
into a binding contract for the completion of that
professional services or for construction, or both, in
order to complete the project. If state funds are insufficient
to fund all qualifying school districts, the board shall fund all
qualifying school districts in the order in which the application for
funding was approved by the board.
(b) This section shall apply only to an application that was filed
after April 29, 2002.
SEC. 9. Section 17074.26 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17074.26. The board shall adopt regulations to adjust the
per-pupil amounts set forth in Section 17074.14
17074.10 for modernization projects for school buildings
that are 50 years old or older based upon the higher costs associated
with modernizing older buildings.
SEC. 10. Section 17076.10 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
17076.10. (a) A school district that has received any funds
pursuant to this chapter shall submit a summary report of expenditure
of state funds and of district matching funds annually until all
state funds and district matching funds are expended, and shall then
submit a final report to the board. The board may require an audit of
these reports or other district records to ensure that all funds
received pursuant to this chapter are expended in accordance with
program requirements.
(b) If the board finds that a participating school district has
made no substantial progress towards increasing its pupil capacity or
modernizing its facilities within 18 months of the receipt of any
funding pursuant to this chapter, the board shall rescind the
apportionment in an amount equal to the unexpended funds.
(c) (1) If the board, after the review of expenditures or audit
has been conducted pursuant to subdivision (a), determines that a
school district failed to expend funds in accordance with this
chapter, the department shall notify the school district of the
amount that must be repaid to the 1998 State School Facilities Fund,
the 2002 State School Facilities Fund, or the 2004 State School
Facilities Fund, as the case may be, within 60 days. If the school
district fails to make the required payment within 60 days, the
department shall notify the Controller and the school district in
writing, and the Controller shall deduct an amount equal to the
amount received by the school district under this subdivision, from
the school district's next principal apportionment or apportionments
of state funds to the school district, other than basic aid
apportionments required by Section 6 of Article IX of the California
Constitution. Any amounts obtained by the Controller shall be
deposited into the 1998 State School Facilities Fund, the 2002 State
School Facilities Fund, or the 2004 State School Facilities Fund, as
appropriate.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the board determines that
repayment of the full liability within 60 days after the board action
would constitute a severe financial hardship, as defined by the
board, for the school district, the board shall approve a plan of
equal annual payments over a period of up to five years. The plan
shall include interest on each year's outstanding balance at the rate
earned on the state's Pooled Money Investment Account during that
year. The Controller shall withhold amounts, other than basic aid
apportionments required by Section 6 of Article IX of the California
Constitution, pursuant to the plan.
(d) If a school district has received an apportionment, but has
not met the criteria to have funds released pursuant to Section
17072.32 or , 17074.15 , or
17074.16 within a period established by the board, but
not to exceed 18 months, the board shall rescind the
apportionment and deny the district's application. The board
may, at its discretion, extend the time period in which a school
district must have met the criteria to have funds released pursuant
to Section 17072.32, 17074.15, or 17074.16.
SEC. 11. Section 15490 of the Government Code is amended to read:
15490. (a) There is in the state government the State Allocation
Board, consisting of the Director of Finance, the Director of General
Services, a person appointed by Governor, and the Superintendent of
Public Instruction. The board shall also include three Members of the
Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, two of whom shall
belong to the majority party and one of whom shall belong to the
minority party, and three Members of the Assembly appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly, two of whom shall belong to the majority
party and one of whom shall belong to the minority party.
(b) The members of the board and the Members of the Legislature
meeting with the board shall receive no compensation for their
services but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary
expenses incurred in connection with the performance of their duties.
(c) The Director of General Services shall provide assistance to
the board as the board requires. The board may ,
by a majority vote of all members, may do one or more of
the following:
(1) Appoint an employee to report directly to the board
as assistant executive officer and an employee as
legal counsel, both of whom are to report directly to the board
.
(2) Fix the salary and other compensation of the assistant
executive officer and the legal counsel .
(3) Employ additional staff members, and secure office space and
furnishings, as necessary to support the assistant executive officer
and the legal counsel in the performance of his
or her their duties.