BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 55 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 55 (Nazarian) - As Amended March 26, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Arts, Entertainment, Sports, |Vote:|6 - 0 | |Committee: |Tourism, and Internet Media | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 55 Page 2 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 AB 55 Page 3 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 AB 55 Page 4