BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1789
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1789 (Santiago) - As Amended March 17, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill extends the sunset date for the School Supplies for
Homeless Children Fund (Fund) voluntary contribution fund (VCF)
to January 1, 2022.
FISCAL EFFECT:
AB 1789
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1)Minor ongoing GF revenue losses of up to $15,000 per year
resulting from itemized taxpayer deductions.
2)Minor and absorbable administrative costs for the FTB or the
Department of Social Services (DSS), the administering agency
responsible for the Fund.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill aims to assist homeless children by
extending the sunset date of the Fund. According to the
author, a significant barrier to success homeless students
face is access to basic materials such as school supplies,
hygienic and dental products, and other basic necessities.
2)Background. Current state tax law allows taxpayers to make
contributions on their tax returns to a number of VCFs. The
Fund helps provide homeless children with necessary school and
health supplies. The Fund received $398,900 in 2015. Like many
VCFs, it must meet a current minimum contribution amount to
remain on state tax returns ($250,000, indexed for inflation
since 2015). Moreover, the Fund has an administrating agency:
The money deposited into the Fund is allocated to DSS for
distribution to a designated nonprofit organization, which has
traditionally been K to College.
3)Funding history. This fund saw its highest contributions yet
in 2015. The fund is easily meeting the $250,000 threshold.
Since 2013, the School Supplies for Homeless Children Fund has
generated the following revenues:
a) 2013: $367,868
b) 2014: $337.949
c) 2015: $399,673
AB 1789
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4)K to College. K to College provides the following statement on
the importance of the organization:
"K to College is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that
operates the largest charitable school and dental supply
program in California. Our mission is to ensure that every
child identified as homeless or low-income in public schools,
and adults working towards self-sufficiency have the basic
materials they need to achieve. From the fall of 2010-2015,
we have donated $20,500,000 of materials to more than 350,000
low-income children throughout California. Our organization's
success stems from our innovative business model, which
mirrors the systems food banks use to centralize resources,
leverage the dollar and distribute through partnering
organizations. In this instance this includes more than 300
county offices of education, school districts and domestic
violence shelters throughout California. This enables us to
distribute materials at approximately one-third of their
regular cost."
5)Prior Legislation. SB 761 (DeSaulnier) of 2014 designated DSS
as the administering agency responsible for the Fund. The
purpose of this bill was to create a more timely process of
distributing funds for homeless children.
1)New VCF Bills in 2016. Four Assembly bills were introduced in
2016 that would either extend existing VCFs or create new
ones. In addition to AB 1789, those bills are:
a) AB 2371 (Frazier), also on today's Committee agenda,
adds a voluntary contribution for the Special Olympics Fund
b) AB 2430 (Beth Gaines), also on today's Committee agenda,
AB 1789
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adds, a voluntary contribution for the Type 1 Diabetes
Research Fund.
c) AB 2497 (Wagner), also on today's Committee agenda,
repeals the voluntary contribution for the California
Senior Legislature Fund and replace it with a voluntary
contribution for the California Senior Citizen Advocacy
Fund.
Analysis Prepared by:Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916)
319-2081