BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      AB 55


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          Date of Hearing:  May 6, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          55 (Nazarian) - As Amended March 26, 2015


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          |Policy       |Arts, Entertainment, Sports,   |Vote:|6 - 0        |
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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          The bill continuously appropriates each fiscal year, from the  
          General Fund to the California Arts Council (CAC), an amount  
          equal to the sum of the revenue generated through a specialized  
          license plate program for the arts in the prior fiscal year plus  








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          the amount of private donations to the CAC in the prior year.  
          The bill declares that this requirement shall not be construed  
          to prevent the Legislature from appropriating additional funds  
          to the CAC.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          The annual GF appropriation would depend on prior year license  
          plate program revenues and private donations. In the last three  
          years, license plate revenues have totaled about $2.8 million  
          annually, and donations have been minimal over this time period.  
          General Fund appropriations to the CAC were $6 million in the  
          current year and $1 million in the prior two years (and over the  
          past decade). Therefore, had this bill been in effect in 2012-13  
          and 2013-14, it would have resulted in an additional $1.8  
          million to the council from the General Fund. The bill might  
          have had no impact in 2014-15, as the larger General Fund  
          appropriation could have been adjusted downward. Conversely,  
          having a continuous appropriation that, in part, matches private  
          donations to the CAC could incentivize increase donations, thus  
          increasing General Fund costs.


          Continuous appropriations, particularly from the General Fund,  
          have been contrary to the general policy of this committee.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose. According to the author, "State matching funds will  
            provide a base level of support to the arts and restores  
            funding the California Arts Council has lost in the last  
            decade. Further, AB 55 recognizes the investment made by  
            individuals by requiring the state to match its funding level  
            with that of individual donations and encourages Californians  
            to purchase a specialized license plate and donate to the Arts  








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            Council."



          2)Prior Legislation. In 2014, AB 1662 (Calderon), which would  
            have created an annual continuous GF appropriation to the  
            California Arts Council (CAC) in an unspecified amount, was  
            held on this committee's Suspense file.



            In 2013, AB 580 (Nazarian), which contained a $75 million  
            continuous GF appropriation to the council, was also held on  
            Suspense in this committee.





            SB 1432 (Lieu), also in 2014 and containing a $25 million  
            continuous GF appropriation, was held on Suspense in Senate  
            Appropriations.





          Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081


















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