BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 803
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 13, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 803 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: January 10, 2012
ÝNote: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly Revenue and
Taxation Committee and will be heard as it relates to issues
under its jurisdiction.]
SENATE VOTE : 27-11
SUBJECT : California Youth Leadership Project
SUMMARY : Establishes the California Youth Leadership Project
(CYLP) and creates a new check off program on the personal
income tax (PIT) form for voluntary contributions to the
California Youth Leadership Fund. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the California Youth Leadership Fund in the State
Treasury to receive contributions made by individuals on the
state tax return and specifies the following:
a) Requires the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax
return form to include a space labeled "California Youth
Leadership Fund". Requires the form to include in the
instructions information that the contribution may be in
the amount of $1 or more and that the contribution shall be
used to support the CYLP.
b) Specifies that a voluntary contribution designation for
the California Youth Leadership Fund shall be added on the
tax return when another voluntary contribution designation
is removed or as soon as space is available on the tax
return.
c) Requires the moneys transferred to the California Youth
Leadership Fund to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board
and the controller for reimbursement of all costs incurred
by the agencies to administer the provisions in this bill
and the California Department of Education (CDE) to provide
for the CYLP.
d) Specifies that the provisions establishing the
California Youth Leadership Fund shall repeal on January 1
of the fifth taxable year following the first appearance of
the California Youth Leadership Fund on the tax return, or
on January 1of an earlier calendar year, if the Franchise
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Tax Board determines that the annual contribution amount
will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount, as
specified, for subsequent taxable years.
2)Makes findings and declarations regarding the following: a)
the needs of youth in California, particularly disadvantaged
youths, including those who are homeless, are in foster care,
juvenile justice facilities, or on parole from those
facilities; b) the limited civic engagement opportunities for
these disconnected and disadvantaged youth; and c) that
providing more of the five developmental resources (caring
adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education,
and opportunities to help others) for more young people can
help avoid millions of dollars in later prison, health, and
welfare costs.
3)Establishes the CYLP under the CDE for the purpose of
promoting youth civic engagement through meaningful
opportunities to improve the quality of life for California's
disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
4)Specifies that the CYLP shall support and promote youth civic
engagement by awarding scholarships to youths. Specifies that
youths awarded scholarships shall be given the opportunity to
make meaningful recommendations regarding legislation and
policies that impact their own lives and the lives of the
thousands of other youths in California whose voices often go
unheard.
5)Specifies that the CYLP shall award youth scholarships to
civic engagement programs that do all of the following:
a) Provide youth participants the tools to examine and
discuss policy and fiscal issues affecting the interests,
needs, and conditions of the youth of California;
b) Provide youth participants the opportunity to formally
advise and make recommendations to the Legislature and the
Governor on specific issues affecting youth, including, but
not limited to, education, employment, access to state and
local governmental services, the environment, behavioral
and physical health, safety, technology, criminal justice,
homelessness, foster care, child welfare, emancipation,
financial literacy, substance abuse, driver's license
requirements, poverty, increased youth participation in
state and local government, and any other policy or fiscal
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issues deemed appropriate by the CYLP Committee;
c) Provide youth participants the opportunity to consult
with any existing local level youth advisory commissions
and community-based, grassroots youth-led organizations for
input and potential solutions on issues related to youth;
d) Provide youth participants the opportunity to convene
and conduct meetings to fulfill the purposes of the CYLP;
e) Provide youth participants the opportunity to act as an
information center on California youth policy and fiscal
issues, including, but not limited to, the issues
identified in (b) above; and,
f) When available, enable individual youth to travel to the
State Capitol to learn the legislative process and, on
occasion, to testify at legislative hearings.
6)Establishes the CYLP Committee to oversee the CYLP and
distribute funds collected through the check-off program on
the income tax form.
7)Requires the CYLP Committee, in making youth scholarship
awards, to take into consideration that awarded youth
represent the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural,
physical, and educational diversity of California. Particular
emphasis should be placed on reaching out to at-risk or
disadvantaged youth, as their participation in the CYLP will
provide keen insight into many of the issues that youth face
in their day-to-day lives.
8)Requires the CYLP Committee to be chaired by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), or his or her
designee, and shall include no more than six members.
9)Requires the SPI to appoint the following four members to the
CYLP Committee:
a) A representative from a statewide nonprofit youth
organization;
b) A representative from a community-based nonprofit
organization that serves youth or deals with youth-related
issues;
c) A representative of a local educational agency or school
district; and,
d) A youth under 18 years of age who has participated in a
youth leadership program involving lobbying the Legislature
on issue areas affecting youth. Specifies that this person
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shall serve only in an advisory capacity.
10)Specifies that the California Health and Human Services
Agency may also, but is not required to, appoint a member to
the CYLP Committee.
11)Specifies that members of the CYLP Committee shall have
experience and be trained to work with youth between 14 and 18
years of age on the issues described in 5(b) of this summary
and shall have special experience in civic engagement,
advocacy, and at least one of the following issue areas
affecting youth: crisis prevention or intervention; drug,
alcohol, and tobacco abuse prevention or intervention; foster
care; juvenile justice; homelessness; lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender rights and social justice; and mental health.
12)Specifies that the duties of the CYLP Committee shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
a) Develop and provide applications for the Youth
Leadership Project scholarship and collect applications
from youth who would like to apply;
b) Determine ways to promote the program and make
applications available;
c) Establish criteria for the selection of youth, and make
awards based on those criteria and the purposes of the
CYLP;
d) Ensure that there is no discrimination based on race,
religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender,
marital status, sex, or sexual orientation;
e) Establish the time, location, and number of annual
meetings of the committee. Specifies that the committee
shall meet no less than once each year;
f) If necessary, enter into a mutually agreed upon
interagency agreement with the CDE to carry out
administrative duties related to the project;
g) Submit an annual budget and report to the CDE; and,
h) Determine when there are sufficient funds to support the
project. Specifies that if the committee determines that
there are insufficient funds to cover all costs, the
activities of the CYLP shall cease. Specifies that state
funds shall not be used to support the CYLP.
13)Specifies that the funds for the CYLP shall be allocated from
the California Youth Leadership Fund or from private funds
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directed to the CDE and allocated to the CYLP Committee for
the purpose of funding activities of the CYLP.
14)Authorizes the CYLP to accept gifts and grants from any
source, public or private.
15)Specifies that the CYLP Committee shall have the authority to
define its program and utilize its funds in any way necessary
to carry out the duties of this bill, including, but not
limited to, partnering with nonprofit groups or state agencies
to perform various duties, as long as the program or activity
is not in violation of a state law or regulation.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes taxpayers to designate on their PIT returns a
contribution to any of 18 voluntary contribution funds (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.
4)Establishes the California Senior Legislature to provide model
legislation for older citizens and advocate for the needs of
seniors.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the total costs to administer the scholarship program
would likely exceed $50,000 annually. To the extent that
insufficient funds are generated to cover the full
administrative costs of the program, the bill would create cost
pressures. Furthermore, the bill would create additional cost
pressures of $250,000 to $300,000 annually to fund the
scholarship program after the tax checkoff program is repealed.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Young people need five key
developmental resources in order to become productive citizens:
caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective
education, and opportunities to help others. Furthermore, young
people who receive more of these developmental resources fare
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better than young people who receive fewer, and that those young
people are more likely to avoid violence, contribute to their
communities, and achieve high grades in school.
To meet this need, there are several programs that provide youth
leadership opportunities. This bill will make funds available
directly to the youth who participate in such programs."
SB 803 establishes the CYLP, funded by donations made by
California taxpayers through a new check-off program on the PIT
form. The findings and declarations in the bill focus on the
need and benefits of giving disadvantaged kids (kids who are
homeless, in foster care, in juvenile justice facilities or on
parole) the opportunity to learn about policymaking and be
provided the opportunities to develop and provide policy
recommendations in a host of issue areas to the Legislature.
The bill attempts to achieve this goal through the provision of
scholarship awards.
Scholarship recipients . The bill requires the CYLP to award
youth scholarships to civic engagement programs that will
provide participants, presumably scholarship recipients, the
tools to examine and discuss policy and fiscal issues, formally
advise and make recommendations to the Legislature and the
Governor on a host of issues affecting youth, provide youth the
opportunity to consult with existing local youth advisory
commissions and community-based, grassroots, youth-led
organizations, provide participants the opportunity to convene
an conduct meetings, provide youth with the opportunity to act
as an information center on California youth policy and fiscal
issues, and when available, enable participants to travel to the
State Capitol to learn the legislative process and testify at
legislative hearings.
It is unclear whether the scholarships are intended to be
awarded to both youth and civic engagement programs or to youth
through the civic engagement programs. According to the
author's office, the intent is to have civic engagement programs
that agree to provide the opportunities detailed above to
identify the participants and submit applications on behalf of
youths. The funding will go to the programs. Staff recommends
amending the bill to clarify that applications shall be
submitted by organizations that operate civic engagement
programs.
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What are the funds used for ? The bill does not specify
parameters for use of the scholarship funds. According to the
author's office, funds are intended to be used for activities to
support participants (e.g., to travel to the State Capitol to
learn about the legislative process or testify at a committee
hearing), and are not intended for administration. Staff
recommends an amendment to clarify that funds are to be used for
participant-related activities.
Who oversees the funds ? This bill establishes a CYLP Committee,
comprised of no more than six members and chaired by the SPI or
his/her designee. The SPI makes appointments to the Committee,
which must include representatives from a statewide nonprofit
youth organization, a community-based nonprofit organization
that serves youth or deals with youth-related issues, and a
local educational agency, and a youth under 18 who has
participated in a youth leadership program involving lobbying
the Legislature on issue areas affecting youth, who shall serve
in an advisory role.
The bill requires members of the Committee to have experience
and to have received training to work with youth between 14 and
18 years of age on all the issues mentioned in 5(b) of the
summary section of the analysis and have experience in civic
engagement, advocacy, and at least one of the following issue
areas: crisis prevention or intervention; drug, alcohol, and
tobacco abuse prevention or intervention; foster care; juvenile
justice; homelessness; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
rights and social justice; and mental health. Requiring members
to meet all the criteria may make it difficult for the SPI to
find eligible appointees. Staff recommends specifying that
members shall have these characteristics "to the extent
possible" and have experience and be trained in "any" of the
specified issue areas.
The bill requires the Committee to develop and collect
applications from youth, establish criteria for selection of
youth while ensuring that there is no discrimination based on
race, religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender,
marital status, sex, or sexual orientation. Staff recommends
adding "disabilities" to this list. The findings and
declarations section of the bill focus on disadvantaged and
at-risk youth; however, the bill allows the Committee to develop
selections criteria. If this bill is intended to give at-risk
and disadvantaged youth the opportunities to develop policy
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recommendations, staff recommends requiring the Committee to
give priority for scholarship awards to at-risk and
disadvantaged youth between the ages of 14 and 18. Staff also
recommends uncodifying the findings and declarations section of
the bill.
Education Code . The bill is currently codified in the Welfare
and Institutions Code. Staff recommends transferring the
language to the Education Code.
PIT check-off program . The bill establishes the California
Youth Leadership Fund and creates a new PIT check-off program
whereby taxpayers can make donations for the CYLP for a five
year period, when an existing VCF sunsets or when there is room
on the form. There are currently 18 VCFs on the PIT form. This
provision of the bill will be examined in more details by the
Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee.
Arguments in Support . The California Coalition for Youth
states, "Every youth should be given a chance, and we recognize
that some need extra help along the way. The California Youth
Leadership Project will give these youth the opportunity to
participate in real civic engagement programs and educational
experiences that can lead to real changes in policies and create
brighter futures, especially for at-risk or disadvantaged
youth."
Arguments in Opposition . The California Right to Life
Committee, Inc. (CRLC) is concerned that funds will be allocated
to organizations that are not consistent with the philosophy or
values of the CRLC.
Related legislation . Various iterations of this bill have been
introduced previously by this author. AB 2252 (DeSaulnier),
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2008, would have
established the California Commission on Youth, with 20 youth
members appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly
and the Senate Rules Committee. Funding would come from private
dollars. The last version, SB 516 (DeSaulnier), also funded by
a PIT check-off program, would have established the California
Youth Legislature, modeled after the California Senior
Legislature. Under that bill, the program is administered by
the Joint Committee on Rules and participants are appointed by
the California Youth Legislature Advisory Committee. The
California Youth Legislature provides opportunities for youth to
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examine and discuss policy and fiscal issues affecting youths,
and make recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor.
The bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2010, stating,
"This bill is similar to a measure I vetoed in 2008. I still
encourage California youth to engage in the public policy issues
that directly impact their lives such as education, employment,
foster care, homelessness, and more. However, as most parents
and adults can attest, I would also argue that youth do not need
statutory authorization to have their voices and opinions heard.
There are numerous organizations, entities and communications
in which youth can be engaged in our legislative process."
AB 233 (Hall) is a similar bill currently pending in the Senate
Governance and Finance Committee. The bill establishes the
California YMCA Youth and Government Fund on the PIT form and
allocates $300,000 to the California YMCA Youth and Government
Board of Directors to award nonprofit civic youth organizations
a grant of up to $10,000 each in order to operate civic
education and mock legislative programs. The funds are
administered by the California YMCA Youth and Government Board
of Directors, who is responsible for developing criteria,
evaluating applications, and awarding grants to eligible
organizations. Any funds collected beyond $300,000 are
allocated to the African American Leaders for Tomorrow Program,
the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project, and the Chicano
Latino Youth Leadership Project. This bill is similar to a 2010
bill by the same author, AB 2017. AB 2017 established the
California Youth Leadership Fund, which provided funding for the
California YMCA Youth and Government Program and the California
Youth Legislature, as proposed by SB 516. The enactment of AB
2017 was contingent upon the enactment of SB 516. The
Governor's veto message stated, "This bill is contingent on the
enactment of Senate Bill 516, which I cannot support. I would
ask that the authors of these bills reconcile their efforts to
support greater youth involvement in public policy without
creating additional organizations when there are numerous
organizations and entities already dedicate to working with
youth from all backgrounds." This year's AB 233 is not joined
with SB 803.
Recently enacted check-off legislation . AB 564 (Smyth), Chapter
549, Statutes of 2011, reestablishes the Municipal Shelter
Spay-Neuter Fund on the PIT form.
AB 764 (Swanson), Chapter 465, Statutes of 2011, creates a VCF
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designation on the PIT form for taxpayers to contribute to the
Child Victims of Human Trafficking Fund.
AB 971 (Monning), Chapter 209, Statutes, of 2011, extends the
repeal date of the California Sea Otter Fund on the PIT form by
five years.
SB 164 (Simitian), Chapter 699, Statutes of 2011, extends the
repeal dates of both the State Children's Trust Fund for the
Prevention of Child Abuse and the Rare and Endangered Species
Preservation Program on the PIT form from January 1, 2013 to
January 1, 2018.
SB 583 (Vargas), Chapter 711, Statutes of 2011, reestablishes
the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund as a VCF on the PIT
form.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Aspiranet
California Coalition for Youth
California Youth Empowerment Network
Los Angeles Unified School District
San Diego Youth Services
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087