BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 599
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
SB 599 (Evans) - As Amended: June 12, 2013
SENATE VOTE : (vote not relevant)
This bill was substantially amended in the Assembly and the
Senate-approved version of this bill was deleted. Consequently,
this hearing is the first hearing on the current language in the
bill.
SUBJECT : California State Park and Recreation Commission
SUMMARY : Enhances the oversight role of the State Park and
Recreation Commission (Commission). Specifically, this bill :
1)States legislative findings and declarations regarding the
difficulties experienced by the Department of Parks &
Recreation (DPR), including decreased funding, the threatened
closure of state parks, and fiscal mismanagement, resulting in
audits and investigations.
2)States legislative findings and declarations regarding actions
the Legislature took in response in 2012, including: directed
DPR to establish a revenue generating program with dedicated
funding, expanded opportunities for contracts and agreements
with nonprofits, added legislative ex officio members to the
Commission, directed the Commission to review DPR's deferred
maintenance backlog, authorized the sale of specialized state
park license plates, required a prioritized plan to increase
revenues and collect user fees, and prohibited the closure of
any state parks for two years. States that because of the
important public functions of DPR and the need for continued
public oversight, the Legislature is enacting this bill.
3)Requires the Commission to meet at least quarterly and that
the location of meetings be geographically balanced.
Authorizes the Commission to arrange for meetings to be
broadcast or streamed live on the Internet through a provider
contract, and to conduct meetings through videoconferencing to
achieve financial savings.
4)Requires the annual report produced by the Commission to
identify any budgetary requests of the Commission for
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consideration by the Department of Finance and the
Legislature, including any recommendations for hiring of
Commission staff.
5)Requires the Commission to review DPR's proposed capital
outlay and infrastructure expenditures. Authorizes the
Commission to conduct public meetings or hearings on all
matters within the jurisdiction of DPR, including but not
limited to revenue generation, public-private partnerships,
and concession agreements.
6)Requires DPR, if it proposes to close a park on or after the
2014-15 fiscal year, to first provide notice to the Commission
six months in advance of the closure in order to provide the
Commission an opportunity to provide input and to propose one
or more alternatives to closure.
7)Requires the Department of Finance to establish a separate
line item in the annual Budget Act for any annual
appropriations to the Commission proposed by the Governor or
appropriated by the Legislature.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Commission, consisting of nine members
appointed by the Governor and subject to Senate confirmation,
and two ex officio legislative representatives appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules.
Provides that the nine voting members shall include: three
public representatives; one with expertise in cultural or
historic resources management; one with professional parks
experience; one representing an organization with statewide
state park policy expertise or experience operating a state
park; one representing a statewide conservation organization;
one with a background in the recreational industry; and one
representing a local business community with a state park
relationship. Requires that members be selected from areas
throughout the state and because of their interest in park,
recreation, conservation, and boating and waterways matters.
Provides that the Commission members shall serve for four year
terms.
2)Requires the Commission to report annually to the Governor,
through the director, on existing and operating recreational
facilities, programs and activities of the state park system,
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and on the needs of the state and local subdivisions for
recreational facilities, programs, and activities, and to make
recommendations for programs and activities to meet future
needs of the state for parks and recreation.
3)Requires the Commission to evaluate and assess DPR's deferred
maintenance obligations, and authorizes the Commission, after
holding a public hearing and presentation by a state park
district superintendent, to establish the relative priority of
deferred maintenance projects. Further authorizes the
Commission to: provide advice to the Governor, Legislature,
and DPR; conduct workshops to review DPR's annual operating
budget and proposed capital improvement projects; make
recommendation on improvements to visitor services, natural
resource protection, and revenue opportunities in state parks;
and assist in promoting state parks.
4)Authorizes the Commission to classify units of the state park
system and to approve general plans for state park units.
5)Requires the Commission to establish general policies to guide
the DPR director in the administration, protection and
development of the state park system.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Under existing law, the Commission is tasked with
establishing policies to guide DPR's management of the state
park system. They also have authority to approve state park
general plans and to classify units of the state park system.
Last year, after the fiscal management problems at DPR surfaced,
the Legislature, through a budget trailer bill, AB 1478
(Blumenfield), expanded the composition of the Commission,
adding specific qualifications for members and adding two
legislative ex officio nonvoting members. The legislative
findings and declarations in last year's trailer bill also
included the following finding: "(d) The department has
demonstrated that greater public and legislative oversight is
necessary. Adjusting the membership of the State Park and
Recreation Commission to provide opportunities for experienced
and professional experts from qualified organizations with
expertise and interest in improving the management and
programming within the department is essential. It is equally
important to add ex officio legislative members to the
commission." AB 1478 also tasked the Commission with reviewing
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and making recommendations on prioritization of DPR's deferred
maintenance backlog.
This bill would further expand the statutory role of the
Commission in the management, oversight and support of
California's state park system. According to the author, in
light of the recent difficulties DPR has experienced with
decreased funding, the threatened closure of state parks, and
fiscal mismanagement that resulted in at least four separate
audits or investigations, this bill would assist in providing
further transparency, accountability and public accessibility
regarding state park management, by expanding the role and
independence of the State Parks and Recreation Commission.
Specifically, this bill would:
Require that the Commission meet at least quarterly, and
authorize meetings to be broadcast, streamed online or
video-cast to achieve financial savings and increase public
accessibility.
Require the existing annual report produced by the Commission
to include any budgetary requests of the Commission, and for
the Commission's budget to be included in the state budget as
a separate line item. (A separate line item for the
Commission was included in this year's budget - this bill
would make this an ongoing practice.)
Require the Commission to review DPR's proposed capital outlay
and infrastructure expenditures, as well as deferred
maintenance obligations.
Authorize the Commission to conduct public meetings or
hearings on any matters within the jurisdiction of DPR,
including but not limited to, revenue generation,
public-private partnerships, and concession agreements.
Require DPR, if it proposes to close a park on or after the
2014-15 fiscal year to first provide notice to the Commission
six months in advance of the closure in order to provide the
Commission an opportunity to provide input and to propose
alternatives to closure.
The four audits referenced above reviewed a number of issues at
state parks, including fiscal mismanagement problems regarding
hidden funds, unauthorized vacation buy-outs, and out of class
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payment rule violations. The Bureau of State Audits report in
particular highlighted the need for greater transparency. Among
other things, the audit found that DPR, in announcing the 70
parks for closure, may have been premature because it had not
completed the required cost analysis, and the limited
documentation DPR maintained of their evaluation process did not
allow the auditor to determine the completeness or
reasonableness of the proposal. The auditor concluded that
without documentation, DPR was unable to demonstrate that it
followed its process and it would be difficult to defend its
park closure decisions.
This bill proposes that enhancing the Commission's role, which
includes providing a structured and ongoing opportunity for
public input on park management issues, is one avenue, in
addition to other reforms, through which the identified need for
greater transparency and oversight might be further advanced.
Related Legislation : AB 594 (Water, Parks & Wildlife
Committee), updates existing law to reflect legislative intent
that DPR implement other alternatives, including but not limited
to, implementing efficiencies, increasing revenue collection,
and operating agreements with nonprofit and local government
partners before resorting to full park closures to address
budget reductions. It also requires, for any park closures
proposed after the current moratorium ends on July 1, 2014, that
DPR document and publicly disclose the methodology and process
used to evaluate and select parks for closure, and that a public
hearing be held before the Commission.
Suggested Technical Amendments : Committee staff recommends a
technical amendment be adopted to recodify the changes to
Section 541.5 in this bill by moving the new subdivision (e)
into a new code section, in order to avoid chaptering out
problems with AB 594 (Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee). In
addition, to avoid concerns that Department of Finance may have
regarding public discussion of Budget Change Proposals prior to
the process for preparation of the Governor's budget, it is
suggested that this bill be amended on page 4, lines 4 and 5, to
delete the words "Department of Finance and the Legislature" and
insert "director."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096