BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 1825 (Nazarian) - Los Angeles Unified Schools District:
Inspector General
Amended: June 11, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: June 23, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1825 extends the sunset date of the Los Angeles
Unified School District's (LAUSD's) Office of the Inspector
General by 10 years, from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2025.
Fiscal Impact:
State: This bill has no direct fiscal impact on the state.
LAUSD: Substantial potential costs, to the extent that the
LAUSD chooses to continue the Office of the Inspector
General, and to the extent the district elects to fund the
Office. Potentially substantial local savings, to the extent
that investigations and recoveries are successful or deter
waste, fraud, and abuse.
Background: LAUSD's Office of the Inspector General was
originally established by SB 1260 (Hayden) Ch. 295/1999, at the
request of the school district with the primary mission of
detecting and preventing waste, fraud, and abuse. It was also
established in response to criticism over the district's attempt
to build a new downtown school on expensive property that later
turned out to be contaminated.
LAUSD's Office of the Inspector General is authorized to conduct
audits and investigations, as specified, including the ability
to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths or affirmations, take
testimony, and compel the production of all information and
documentary evidence deemed material and relevant and that
reasonably relate to the inquiry or investigation undertaken by
the Inspector General when there is reasonable suspicion that a
law, regulation, rule, or district policy has been violated or
is being violated. The Office has 52 employees and operates
within a $7.2 million budget that is fully funded at the local
AB 1825 (Nazarian)
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level.
Existing law provides that any person who, after the
administration of an oath or affirmation, states or affirms as
true any material matter that he or she knows to be false, is
guilty of a misdemeanor publishable by imprisonment in a county
jail not to exceed six months or by a fine of up to $5,000 or
both for the first offense, and that each subsequent violation
shall be punishable by imprisonment not to exceed one year or by
a fine of up to $10,000 or both.
Additionally, the Inspector General is required to submit annual
reports to the Legislature and a final cumulative report by
December 1, 2014, on all of the following:
1) The use and effectiveness of the subpoena power in the
successful completion of the Inspector General's duties;
2) Any use of the subpoena power in which it was quashed,
including the basis for the court's order; and
3) Any referral to the local district attorney or Attorney
General where the district attorney or Attorney General
declined to investigate the matter further or declined to
prosecute.
Proposed Law: This bill extends the sunset date of LAUSD's
authority to have an Office of the Inspector General by 10
years, from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2025. It also
requires an additional cumulative report in 2025.
Staff Comments: This bill extends the sunset on LAUSD's
authority to have an Office of the Inspector General, as
originally authorized by SB 1260 (Hayden) Ch. 295/1999. Since
its creation, the Office has been fully funded at the local
level. This legislation authorizes the continuance of a local
program, and is unlikely to result in additional state costs.