BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1557|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1557
Author: Mathis (R), et al.
Amended: 5/11/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/15/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/23/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: School facilities: use by nonprofit youth
organizations: recreational youth sports leagues
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill expands the list of organizations subject to
the Civic Center Act to include recreational sports leagues that
charge participants an average of no more than a nominal fee per
month.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Civic Center Act which declares that at every
public school facility and grounds there is a civic center
where the governing board of the school district may grant
various organizations, clubs, and associations, some of which
are specified, the opportunity to engage in supervised
recreation and meet and discuss subjects pertaining to the
interests of the citizens of the communities in which they
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Page 2
reside.
2)Authorizes the school district governing board to set terms
and conditions for this use of public school facilities and
grounds that it deems proper for various purposes.
3)Requires the school district governing board to authorize the
use of any school facilities or grounds under its control to
nonprofit organizations, and clubs or associations organized
to promote youth and school activities, including Girl scouts,
Boy scouts, parent-teacher activities, and school community
advisory council. Authorizes the governing board to charge an
amount not to exceed its direct costs for use of its school
facilities based on an adopted policy specifying which
activities shall be charged a fee.
4)Provides that a school district governing board is authorized
to charge an amount not to exceed its direct costs for use of
its facilities by a church or religious denomination and fair
rental value for entertainments or meetings where admission
fees are charged or contributions are solicited and the net
receipts are not expended for the welfare of the pupils of the
district or for charitable purposes. Defines direct cost as
costs of supplies, utilities, janitorial services, services of
any other district employees, and salaries paid school
district employees necessitated by the organization's use of
the school district's facilities and grounds. Defines fair
rental value as direct costs to the school district plus the
amortized costs of the school facilities or grounds used for
the duration of the activity authorized.
5)Authorizes until January 1, 2020, the school district
governing board to charge the share of the costs for
maintenance, repair, restoration, and refurbishment,
proportional to the use of nonclassroom space and grounds,
defined as playing fields, athletic fields, track and field
venues, tennis courts, and outdoor basketball courts.
(Education Code § 38131-38134)
6)Authorizes the governing board of a school district to require
persons other than students, or organizations that wish to use
recreational facilities that are on school grounds or are
provided by a district at a community recreation center and
maintained solely by the district, to pay fees, as prescribed
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Page 3
by the board. (EC § 10912)
This bill:
1)Adds a recreational youth sports league that charges
participants no more than a nominal fee to the list of
organizations subject to the Civic Center Act.
2)Defines a "nominal fee" as an average of no more than $60 per
month.
Comments
Need for the bill. According to the author's office, "there are
many organizations which use school facilities for their regular
events, such as the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, recreational
sports, and the YMCA. These organizations rely upon school
facilities to offer low-use fees in order to allocate the most
funds towards promoting their programs. However, school
district governing boards have begun increasing the fees
associated with facility use to increase revenue. As such, many
recreational sporting programs have been closing their doors due
to the burdensome costs of renting school facilities-some have
charged up to $3,000 per use of their field." This bill is
intended to prevent the governing board of a school district
from charging a recreational sporting organization or program
for use of a school's facilities at a rate that is greater than
the fair rental value of the facility.
Recreational sports and after school programs. Under current
law, classroom-based programs that operate after school,
including after school programs, are exempted from the
additional maintenance fee for the use of athletic fields,
playing fields, etc. However, the law allows school districts
to charge fair rental value for gatherings where a fee is
charged and the proceeds are not used for the welfare of the
pupils of the school district or for charitable purposes.
This bill provides that a recreational youth sports league that
charges participants no more than a nominal fee, defined as an
average of no more than $60 per month, are to be assessed direct
costs rather than fair rental value. The fee is used to
differentiate between sports leagues that are local and
community-based and those that are more competitive. According
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to the author's office, the programs intended to be covered by
this bill are those that are run by volunteers, are local, do
not pay coaches, and that may be affiliated with local high
schools. They charge only a nominal fee to pay for necessities,
such as uniforms, equipment, facilities, snack bars, and
trophies, compared with competitive sports teams that may charge
higher amounts for participation, pay coaches, and travel
outside a region for competitions.
Original intent of the Civic Center Act. The Civic Center Act
was originally enacted to ensure public access to publicly
funded facilities for purposes that benefit the community.
While current law provides the ability for school districts to
recoup the costs related to the use of the buildings and
grounds, it did not envision "user fees" for non-profit
organizations, sports leagues, and community organizations that
utilize the school facilities and grounds to promote youth and
school activities. By requiring school districts to charge an
amount not to exceed its direct costs rather than fair rental
value for recreational youth sports leagues, it appears that
this bill is consistent with the original intent of the Civic
Center Act.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/17/16)
American Youth Soccer Organization
California Alternative Payment Program Association
California College and University Police Chiefs Association
California State Alliance of YMCAs
California State PTA
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/17/16)
Small School Districts' Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/23/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow,
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Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos,
Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Eggman, Hadley, Patterson
Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
6/17/16 15:03:52
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