BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1765
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1765 (Irwin) - As Amended April 19, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill authorizes CaliforniaVolunteers (CV), within
the Governor's Office, to form a tax-exempt public benefit
nonprofit corporation to raise revenues and receive financial
support from public or private sources, for the purpose of
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undertaking or funding authorized activities. The bill
prohibits the nonprofit public benefit corporation from using
more than 10% of the grants and financial support it receives
for its own administrative costs.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Cal Volunteers estimates a need for $200,000 and one PY to staff
the nonprofit corporation, but the bill limits administrative
expenditures of the corporation to $10% of funds received. The
amount of funding CV will receive through the nonprofit
corporation is unknown. The difference would be made up with
General Fund dollars. (GF and/or private funds)
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, the bill provides a
mechanism for CV to generate more revenue from public and
private sources to fund a broader range of programs and engage
more Californians in community service. CV receives
approximately $830,000 from the state General Fund for its
operations but most of its budget is federally funded with a
large majority passing through to AmeriCorps grantees. This
bill authorizes CV to set up a nonprofit to receive additional
monetary support for the various programs that it funds.
2)Background. CV is the designated state service entity in the
Governor's office that administers federal AmeriCorps funds
and grants in California. AmeriCorps is a national network of
programs throughout the US that engage Americans in intensive
community service projects at public agencies and nonprofit
organizations across the country. Members work in a variety
of service programs that address critical community needs in
the areas of education, public safety, health, the
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environment, and disaster response.
CV was established by Executive Order S-24-06 with the
specific mission to recruit and mobilize citizens for
volunteer service by identifying service opportunities in
California. CV provides federal AmeriCorps grant funding to a
host of community programs throughout the state, particularly
those that target unmet needs in counties with no AmeriCorps
state presence; provide critical support to veterans; and,
promote economic opportunities for disadvantaged communities.
Currently, CV helps to fund nearly 50 programs across the
state.
3)Prior Legislation.
a) AB 706 (Bonilla) of 2015 would have required CV to
administer an AmeriCorps program with a Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) focus and
authorized CV to establish a nonprofit entity similar to
the mechanism in this is bill. AB 706 was vetoed by
Governor Brown who stated that "without a funding source
the program established in this bill would not be viable."
b) AB 2328 (John A. Pérez) of 2014 would have created the
Cal AmeriCorps program administered by CV and enabled local
governments to compete to host service members. AB 2328
was vetoed by Governor Brown who noted that "California
already has programs, such as the California Conservation
Corps and the California Volunteers Service Enterprise
Initiative, that couple volunteer service with educational
scholarships."
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081