BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1421
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Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 1421 (Fuller) - As Amended: July 1, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the State Allocation Board (SAB), if
requested by an applicant, to give priority on its "Unfunded
Approval - Lack of Authority" list, to applications submitted
before May 1, 2014, for funding under the School Facility
Program (SFP). This priority is for schools located on military
installations that are eligible for United States Department of
Defense (DoD) Office of Economic Adjustment school construction
grants for which priority cannot be granted above hardship
applications.
This bill also prohibits a school district that requests
priority for an application from applying for school facilities
state bond funds for three years after the date the SAB grants
priority to the applicant.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor costs to the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC)
to develop regulations to determine how to prioritize military
base schools.
2)This bill shifts priority for existing SFP bond funding. By
giving priority for certain military base school projects,
this bill could result in one school receiving $5 million in
bond funding ahead of other projects, potentially denying
funding to other eligible projects.
COMMENTS
1) Purpose . This bill seeks to assist California schools
located on military bases that have qualified for the DOD
SB 1421
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Office of Economic Assessment School Construction Grant
with their 20% match requirement by prioritizing
eligibility for SFP bond funding.
2) Background . Congress has allocated a total of $770
million - $250 million in 2011, $250 million in 2012, and
$270 million in 2013 - for the construction, renovation,
repair or expansion of public schools on military
installations. California has 10 schools eligible for a
total of $242.2 million in federal funds. The schools are
required to provide a 20% match. The match can come from
local funds or state funds. According to the California
Department of Education, the DoD has not been willing to
waive the match requirement. If the match is not produced,
California schools will not be able to take advantage of
these federal funds. Only one of the 10 schools appears to
have local matching funds.
This bill seeks to assist schools with their 20% match
requirement by authorizing the SAB to give priority to
certain projects on the "Unfunded Approval-Lack of
Authority" list. This list was created when bond funds for
New Construction and Modernization programs were exhausted
in 2012. Although the New Construction and Modernization
program does not currently have available funds, the
2014-15 Budget Act requires funds to be transferred from
the High Performance or Career Technical Education programs
to the New Construction and Modernization programs starting
January 1, 2015. There is currently approximately $37
million in bond authority remaining in those programs.
This bill appears to only assist one project-Naval Air
Weapons Station China Lake (Burroughs High School, in
Sierra Sands Unified School District). The total cost of
this project is $31.9 million. The district is eligible for
$25.5 million from the federal grant if the district can
provide $6.4 million in matching funds.
Sierra Sands Unified School District currently has an
application for $5 million under the "Unfunded Approval -
Lack of Authority" list. If the SAB provides funding for
this project, Sierra Sands Unified School District could
use this funding to assist with their federal match
requirement.
SB 1421
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The Sierra Sands application is currently 14th on the
"Unfunded Approval - Lack of Authority" list, with projects
totaling $31.6 million ahead of this application. The
effect of this bill is to enable this project to be funded
ahead of these other projects.
3) Opposition . The Coalition for Adequate School Housing
opposes the bill and states, "The SFP is built upon the
tenet of first-come, first serve, and there are very
limited state bond dollar resources available to fund
applications that have already been approved by the SAB.
We are concerned that this bill would give military base
school projects precedence over other projects that are
already in line for funding, thereby displacing some
projects that are currently slated to receive state bond
dollars."
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081