BILL NUMBER: SB 660	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Runner

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to add Section 34327.4 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing authorities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 660, as amended, Runner. Housing authorities: housing
certificates.
   Existing law establishes in each county and city a housing
authority which is authorized, among other things, to prepare, carry
out, acquire, lease, and operate housing projects for persons of low
income, and housing developments for persons of low income. Existing
law authorizes county public housing agencies to apply for, process,
and distribute housing certificates issued pursuant to federal law to
eligible families.
   This bill would authorize any housing authority that administers a
housing program and distributes federal housing certificates to
eligible families with children to make  regular school
attendance   compliance with the Compulsory Education
Law  a continuing condition of certificate eligibility.  The
bill   would   authorize the denial of federal
housing benefits to a parent   or guardian of an elementary
school pupil who is a chronic truant if the parent or guardian 
 has been convicted of   specified crimes relating to
the pupil's behavior and   the truancy persists following
the relevant criminal conviction. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares the
following:  
   (a) A regular program of education during a child's formative
years is essential to the child's physical and mental well-being.
 
   (b) Truancy is a lead indicator for at-risk children, who are
susceptible to involvement with drugs, crime, and street gangs. 

   (c) Chronic truants often engage in criminal activity during
regular school hours, which undermines safety in the community. 

   (d) This state's prisons are filled with offenders who have
limited work skills due to their earlier truancy from school. 
   SEC. 2.    This act shall be known, and may be cited,
as the No Tolerance for Truancy Act. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 3.   Section 34327.4
is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
   34327.4.   (a)    Any housing authority that
administers a housing program pursuant to this chapter and
distributes federal housing certificates issued pursuant to Section 8
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437 et
seq.) to eligible families with children may make  regular
school attendance   compliance with the Compulsory
Education Law (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 48200) of Part 27
of the Education Code)  a continuing condition of certificate
eligibility. 
   (b) A person who is both a voucher recipient and the parent or
guardian of an elementary school pupil who is a chronic truant as
defined in Section 48260.6 of the Education Code, may be denied
benefits if both of the following apply:  
   (1) He or she has been convicted of Section 270.1 or 272 of the
Penal Code because of the chronic truancy of a child who is in
kindergarten or any of grades one to eight, inclusive.  
   (2) The truancy persists following the criminal conviction.