BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1199
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1199 (Brownley)
As Amended January 4, 2012
Majority vote
EDUCATION 10-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, | | |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | | |
| |Eng, Beth | | |
| |Gaines, Halderman, | | |
| | Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Extends the term for members of local bond citizens'
oversight committees from two consecutive two-year terms to
three consecutive two-year terms.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes, under Section 1 of Article XIIIA of the California
Constitution, school districts, community college districts,
or county offices of education to pass a general obligation
bond by a 55% vote, provided that the local initiative meet
specified accountability measures.
2)Requires the governing board of a school district or a
community college district to establish and appoint members to
an independent citizens' oversight committee within 60 days of
the date that the governing board enters the election results
on its minutes. (Education Code (EC) Section 15278)
3)Provides that the citizens' oversight committee shall consist
of at least seven members to serve for a term of two years
without compensation and for no more than two consecutive
terms. Specifies that the committee shall be comprised of the
following:
a) One member active in a business organization;
b) One member active in a senior citizens' organization;
c) One member active in a bona fide taxpayers'
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organization;
d) For a school district, one member who is a parent or
guardian of a child enrolled in the district. For a
community college district, a student who is both currently
enrolled in the district and active in a community college
group, such as student government; and,
e) For a school district, one member who is both a parent
or guardian of a child enrolled in a district and active in
a parent-teacher organization, such as the Parent Teacher
Association or schoolsite council. For a community college
district, one member who is active in the support and
organization of a community college or the community
colleges of the district, such as a member of an advisory
council or foundation. (EC Section 15282)
4)Specifies duties of the citizens' oversight committee to
include ensuring that bond revenues are expended only for
specified purposes and ensuring that no funds are used for any
teacher or administrative salaries or other school operating
expenses. (EC Section 15278)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS : Proposition 39 was passed by voters in 2000. Among
others, the Proposition, a Constitutional Amendment, reduced the
voting threshold for the passage of local general obligations
bonds from two-thirds to 55% provided that the local bond
initiative meets the following accountability measures:
1)The initiative identifies a list of the specific school
facilities projects that will be funded by bond proceeds.
2)A requirement that the school board, community college board,
or county office of education conduct an annual, independent
performance audit to "ensure that the funds have been expended
only on the specific projects listed."
3)A requirement that the school board, community college board,
or county office of education conduct an annual, independent
financial audit of the proceeds from the sale of the bonds
until all of those proceeds have been expended for the school
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facilities projects.
Both the financial audit and performance audit must be reviewed
by an independent citizens' oversight committee. AB 1908
(Lempert), Chapter 44, Statutes of 2000, a companion bill to
Proposition 39, requires each district, within 60 days of the
passage of a local bond with 55% vote to appoint a citizens'
oversight committee to monitor and review expenditures to ensure
compliance with Proposition 39 requirements, and to keep the
public informed about bond expenditures. The bill specified
that the oversight committee must be comprised of a minimum of
seven members, appointed for no more than two consecutive
two-year terms. The bill also specifies that members shall not
be compensated and shall include representatives of business,
senior citizen, taxpayers', parent teacher organizations, and
parents of children enrolled in the school district.
Under existing law, the State Board of Education (SBE) is
authorized to waive certain sections of the EC or any
regulations adopted by the SBE (EC Section 33050). Since 2006,
the SBE has granted 19 requests from school districts to waive
the term limit of members of local citizens' oversight
committees to allow existing members to serve an additional
term. The predominant reasons for the requests stem from
districts' inability to find qualified individuals interested in
serving on the committees and the need for continuity. This
bill extends the term of the appointments by one term to enable
oversight committee members to serve six years instead of four.
A local governing board is not required to appoint individuals
to three terms. This bill will alleviate the need for districts
to pursue waivers to reappoint existing members to an additional
term and reduce the workload at the SBE to process and approve
the waivers. The author states, "School construction projects
can take five years or longer. Enabling oversight committee
members the ability to oversee projects from beginning to end
enhances accountability of local dollars, as envisioned by the
authors of Proposition 39."
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003008
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