BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1765 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 1765 (Irwin) - As Amended April 19, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Accountability and |Vote:|8 - 0 | |Committee: |Administrative Review | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 1765 Page 2 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 AB 1765 Page 3 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." AB 1765 Page 4 Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081