BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
AB 1679
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 1679
(Weber) - As Introduced January 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Child care: state preschool programs: eligibility:
military families
SUMMARY: Expands and codifies emergency regulations that
exclude all or a portion of the basic allowance for housing
provided to active duty military personnel from income
considerations for purposes of determining eligibility for state
preschool.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Declares a number of Legislative findings related to military
families and the importance of preschool for child
development, including that preschool can be a determining
factor in the early academic success of a pupil from a
military family by providing educational enrichment, as well
as a stable and nurturing learning environment.
2)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to ensure that
military families have access to the preschool services their
children need.
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3)Excludes the amount of the basic allowance for housing equal
to the lowest rate of the allowance for the military housing
area in which an individual resides from income calculations
for children of active military personnel, as specified, when
determining eligibility for state preschool services.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
administer all state preschool programs, which include, but
are not limited to, part-day age- and developmentally
appropriate programs designed to facilitate the transition to
kindergarten for three- and four-year-old children in
educational development, health services, social services,
nutritional services, parent education and parent
participation, evaluation, and staff development. (EDC
8235(a))
2)Authorizes a part-day state preschool program to provide
services to children in families with incomes up to 15% above
the income eligibility threshold, as specified, provided all
other eligible three- and four-year-olds have been enrolled.
Further specifies that no more than 10% of the children
enrolled under a provider's entire contract can be children in
families above the income eligibility threshold. (EDC
8235(c))
3)Requires families to meet certain criteria in order to be
eligible for federal and state subsidized child development
services, including that a family must be either a current aid
recipient, income eligible, homeless, or one whose children
are recipients of protective services or have been identified
as being abused, or neglected, as specified. (EDC 8263)
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4)Establishes the income eligibility limit for child development
services, including state preschool, at 70% of the State
median income that was in use for the 2007-08 fiscal year,
adjusted for family size, as specified. (EDC 8263.1)
5)Provides, pursuant to federal law, a basic allowance for
housing to which a uniformed service member, including a
member with dependents, as specified, is entitled if he or she
is also entitled to basic pay. (37 U.S.C. 403)
6)Authorizes a State Preschool contractor located on or in close
proximity to a military base, with prior written approval, as
specified, to exclude from the child care eligibility and
rankings determination the amount of the basic allowance for
housing provided to an individual on federal active duty,
state active duty, active duty for special work, or Active
Guard and Reserve duty in the military whose family resides on
a military base or in military housing. Requires program
vacancies to first be filled by children pursuant to all
statutorily mandated priorities for State Preschool programs.
(Title 5, CCR, Section 18134)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
State preschool programs: The California State Preschool
Program provides both part-day and full-day services to eligible
three- and four-year-olds. These services include
developmentally appropriate curriculum, parent education, meals
and snacks, and referral to social and health services for
families. State preschool can be offered in various settings,
including child care centers, family child care network homes,
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school districts, or county offices of education.
As with the rest of the subsidized child care system in
California, children are eligible for state preschool if their
families are one of the following: current aid recipients,
income eligible, homeless, or one in which children are
recipients of protective services or children have been
identified as being, or at risk of being, abused, neglected, or
exploited. However, state preschool differs from the subsidized
child care system in a few ways. For one, state preschool
prioritizes four-year-olds for enrollment, and then serves
three-year-olds if slots remain after enrolling all eligible
four-year-olds. Additionally, parents do not have to be working
(or meeting related criteria) to be eligible for state
preschool; however, this is a requirement for other child care
programs. State preschool also may serve some families whose
incomes exceed the eligibility cut-off by up to 15%.
For 2015-16, there are an estimated 98,956 part-day state
preschool slots, and an estimated 58,504 full-day slots. Over
the last two years, the state has augmented funding to provide
$247 million for additional state child care and preschool
slots, with over two-thirds of that funding going to state
preschool slots.
Military compensation and allowances: As of August 2013, there
were almost 169,000 active duty military personnel in
California. In addition to basic pay, which is provided to a
uniformed service member based on his or her grade (or rank) and
years of service, there are a number of allowances the federal
government provides to service members when it cannot meet an
individual's specific needs. These allowances include a basic
allowance for housing (BAH), which is provided to service
members that don't live in government-provided housing. The
amount of the BAH is adjusted based on pay grade and whether a
service member has dependents. This allowance is also adjusted
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based on the local median rental rates across different
geographic locations (called military housing areas), but it is
not designed to cover all costs. According to 2016 rates in
California, the beginning BAH amounts for service members with
dependents range from $807 per month in Twentynine Palms and
$846 in China Lake, up to $3,351 per month in Santa Clara County
and $4,002 in San Francisco. All of these rates increase
according to rank.
Because this bill proposes to exclude from state preschool
eligibility calculations the amount of a service member's BAH
that is equal to the lowest rate of the allowance for the
military housing area in which the individual resides, it will
exclude the entire allowance for beginning-rank service members,
while excluding only a portion of the rate for higher-ranking
service members.
Income calculations for state preschool: Section 18134 of Title
5 of the California Code of Regulations provides for an
exception to the calculation of the adjusted monthly income for
military personnel enrolling their children in state preschool.
More specifically, the regulations allow a state preschool
contractor to exclude the BAH from consideration when
determining eligibility and income ranking for families that
include specified active military personnel (consistent with the
individuals identified in this bill), provided the contractor
has prior written approval from the California Department of
Education (CDE). The regulation also requires the state
preschool program for which this exclusion is provided to be on
or in close proximity to a military base, and it requires that
first priority for program vacancies be provided to children
pursuant to all statutorily mandated priorities, which are
consistent with the priorities outlined for subsidized child
care programs.
Need for this bill: According to the author, "Because of
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disruptions in their school lives from frequent involuntary
relocations, children from military families are at risk of
academic setbacks and delayed graduation. Stress from
deployments can also affect academic performance, social
development and mental health. Access to preschool will help
provide routine, stability and an academic, social and
developmental foundation to mitigate many of these issues.
The Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is a non-discretionary
housing allowance given to active duty members of the military
to seek housing when there is limited availability on base or
when the military housing is privately operated. This is a
product of the Department of Defense's (DOD) move toward
public-private partnerships in military housing as part of the
Military Housing Privatization Initiative. Some military
housing was transferred to private operation, and military
personnel now receive a monthly BAH that increases their income
above the income ceiling levels for preschool programs. The BAH
did not show up as income when military housing was strictly
operated by the DOD, so military families who met the low-income
eligibility threshold were granted admission to the state-funded
preschools.
Prior to 2007, the BAH was inaccurately calculated as income
when determining a family eligibility to receive access to
state-funded preschool. This excluded a significant number of
families from this vital program, while also putting a number of
preschool facilities at risk of closure because of lack of
enrollment. In 2007, then Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) Jack O'Connell issued an emergency regulation (California
Code of Regulations, Title 5, Education, Section 18134),
allowing preschool contractors with written approval from the
Department of Education to exclude the BAH given to military
families from being factored into eligibility for state
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preschool.
More recently, waivers have been issued to local education
agencies by the California Department of Education, allowing
them to exclude this amount without seeking individual case
approval. [This bill] seeks to continue this trend of allowing
access to preschool by codifying the SPI's emergency regulation
and streamlining the process for determining military family
eligibility."
Recommended amendments: In order to maintain consistency with
the originating regulations, and make clear that state program
vacancies are to first be filled by children pursuant to all
statutorily mandated priorities, committee staff recommends the
following amendments starting on line 25 of page 2 of the bill:
25
8236.2. a) For purposes of determining eligibility for
state
26
preschool services pursuant to this article, the income of an
27
individual who is on federal active duty, state active duty,
active
28
duty for special work, or Active Guard and Reserve duty in the
29
military does not include the amount of the basic allowance for
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30
housing pursuant to Section 403 of Title 37 of the United States
31
Code provided to the individual that is equal to the lowest rate
of
32
the allowance for the military housing area in which the
individual
33
resides.
b) Nothing in this Section shall supersede the priority for
federal and state subsidized child development services included
in this Chapter.
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
AB 170 (Saldaņa), 2007, contained provisions identical to the
provisions in this bill that exclude the basic allowance for
housing provided to military families from being counted in
state preschool services eligibility determinations. It died on
the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file. Title 5,
CCR, Section 18134 was subsequently established through
emergency regulations.
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AB 427 (Weber), 2015, was similar to this bill, in that it would
have excluded all or a portion of the basic allowance for
housing provided to active duty military personnel from counting
as income for purposes of determining eligibility for child care
and development programs. It died on the Senate Appropriations
Committee suspense file.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Academy of Pediatrics, CA (AAP-CA)
California Alternative Payment Program Association (CAPPA)
First 5 California
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Opposition
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Myesha Jackson/Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. /
(916) 319-2089