BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 803 (DeSaulnier)
          As Amended  August 7, 2012
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :27-11  
           
           EDUCATION           7-2         REVENUE & TAXATION  7-0         
           
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          |Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano,        |Ayes:|Perea, Beall, Cedillo,    |
          |     |Buchanan,                 |     |Fletcher, Fuentes,        |
          |     |Butler, Carter, Eng,      |     |Gordon, Nestande          |
          |     |Williams                  |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Grove, Wagner             |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           APPROPRIATIONS      12-5                                        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield,     |     |                          |
          |     |Bradford, Charles         |     |                          |
          |     |Calderon, Campos, Davis,  |     |                          |
          |     |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara,  |     |                          |
          |     |Mitchell, Solorio         |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly,         |     |                          |
          |     |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner    |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
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           SUMMARY  :  Establishes the California Youth Leadership Project 
          (CYLP) and creates a new voluntary contribution fund (VCF) 
          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 (FTB) to revise the tax 








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               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 FTB and the State 
               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; and, 

             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 1 of an earlier calendar year, if the FTB 
               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 youths with 
            disabilities and 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.    








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          4)Specifies that the CYLP shall support and promote youth civic 
            engagement by awarding scholarships to youths between 14 and 
            18 years of age.  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.  Authorizes an 
            organization that operates civic engagement programs to submit 
            applications for participation in the project on behalf of 
            interested youth.  

          5)Specifies that the CYLP shall allocate scholarship award funds 
            to organizations that submit applications on behalf of youth 
            who are selected to receive scholarship awards.  Requires the 
            organizations to 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 
               issues deemed appropriate by the CDE;

             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 








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               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)Requires an organization that receives a scholarship award on 
            behalf of youth to use the funds only for youth-related 
            activities pursuant to this bill.

          7)Establishes the CYLP Committee to oversee the CYLP and 
            distribute funds collected through the check-off program on 
            the income tax form.  

          8)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.  Specifies 
            that priority for awarding scholarships shall be given to 
            at-risk or disadvantaged youth between the ages of 14 and 18, 
            as their participation in the CYLP will provide keen insight 
            into many of the issues that youth face in their day-to-day 
            lives.

          9)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.

          10)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 between 14 and 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 shall serve only in an advisory 








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               capacity.

          11)Specifies that the California Health and Human Services 
            Agency may also, but is not required to, appoint a member to 
            the CYLP Committee.

          12)Specifies that to the extent possible, 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) above, 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.

          13)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 California 
               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, disability, 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, 









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             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.

          14)Specifies that the funds for the CYLP shall be allocated from 
            the California Youth Leadership Fund or from private funds 
            directed to the CDE and allocated to the CYLP Committee for 
            the purpose of funding activities of the CYLP.

          15)Authorizes the CYLP to accept gifts and grants from any 
            source, public or private.  

          16)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. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee:

          1)Based on past tax check-offs, annual revenues are expected to 
            be in the $300,000-$800,000 range, although some check-offs 
            have received less revenues.

          2)The FTB estimates this bill will cost the state about $20,000 
            per year in lost revenues as taxpayers deduct these charitable 
            donations.  This estimate assumes the check-off is added in 
            the 2012-13 fiscal year, donations meet the average amount for 
            the other tax check-offs and taxpayers deduct these charitable 
            donations at the historical rate.  Revenue losses would be 
            similar in subsequent years.

          3)The CDE estimates that it will cost approximately $100,000 to 
            administer the program established by this bill.  The costs 
            for FTB and the State Controller are minor and absorbable.

           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 








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          people who receive more of these developmental resources fare 
          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."

          This bill 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, have disabilities, or are in foster care, 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.  

          The bill requires the CYLP to award youth scholarships to civic 
          engagement programs that will provide participants (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 and 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.  

          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 bill is similar to AB 233 (Hall), pending in the Assembly, 
          which 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 








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          youth organizations a grant of up to $10,000 each in order to 
          operate civic education and mock legislative programs.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 



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