AB 2663, as introduced, Cooper. After school programs: grant amounts.
Existing law, the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, enacted by initiative statute, establishes the After School Education and Safety Program to serve pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 9, inclusive, at participating public elementary, middle, junior high, and charter schools. The existing act provides that each school establishing a program pursuant to the act is eligible to receive a renewable 3-year grant for before or after school programs, as provided, and a grant for operating a program beyond 180 regular schooldays or during summer, weekend, intersession, or vacation periods, as provided, and specifies the maximum grant amount and related amounts for each of these grants. The existing act provides a formula for determining an amount to be continuously appropriated from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of the program and authorizes the Legislature to appropriate additional funds for purposes of the program.
For the 2016-17 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, this bill would continously appropriate $73,260,000 more to the State Department of Education for purposes of the program. The bill would, commencing with the 2017-18 fiscal year, require the Department of Finance to annually adjust that amount using a specified calculation, provided that adjustment does not result in a reduction. The bill would, also commencing with the 2017-18 fiscal year, require the State Department of Education to annually adjust the maximum grant amounts and those related amounts to reflect the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index, provided that adjustment does not result in a reduction. The bill also would provide that funds appropriated by the bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(1) The After School Education and Safety Program (ASES)
4serves more than 400,000 low-income pupils in over 4,000
5high-quality elementary and middle school programs statewide.
6(2) After school programs are essential to closing the
7achievement and opportunity gaps for underserved pupils.
8(3) ASES programs receive a daily rate of $7.50 per pupil for
9three or more hours each day of academic and enrichment activities,
10a rate that experts say is woefully inadequate to run a high-quality
11program.
12(4) The daily rate has not been changed since 2006, despite a
13decade of substantial increases to the costs of operating these
14programs.
15(5) The most significant program cost increases were the two
16statutory minimum wage increases, the first on July 1, 2014, and
17the second on January 1, 2016.
18(6) As costs significantly outpace funding, ASES programs have
19been stretched to the breaking point.
20(7) The ASES daily rate must be increased by fifty cents for
21each one dollar increase to the minimum wage. The minimum
P3 1wage increase in effect as of January 1, 2016, would translate to
2an increase in the daily rate from $7.50 to $8.50, a 13.33 percent
3increase.
4(b) It is therefore the intent of the
Legislature to augment the
5ASES budget in an amount sufficient to match the increased costs
6of the current minimum wage.
7(c) It is further the intent of the Legislature to ensure the
8continuation and stability of high-quality ASES programs by
9adopting a statute that requires the Department of Finance to
10provide a cost-of-living adjustment to ASES programs in any year
11in which there is an increase in the consumer price index.
Section 8483.73 is added to the Education Code, to
13read:
(a) For the 2016-17 fiscal year, and for each fiscal
15year thereafter, seventy-three million two hundred sixty thousand
16dollars ($73,260,000) is hereby continuously appropriated from
17the General Fund to the department for purposes of the program
18established pursuant to this article. Commencing with the 2017-18
19fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Department of
20Finance shall adjust this amount by adding the product of six
21hundred twenty-three million two hundred sixty thousand dollars
22($623,260,000) multiplied by the percentage change in the
23California Consumer Price Index from the 2016-17 fiscal year,
24provided that adjustment does not result in a reduction in any fiscal
25year.
26(b) Commencing with the
2017-18 fiscal year, and each fiscal
27year thereafter, the department shall annually adjust the dollar
28amounts specified in Sections 8482.55, 8483.7, 8483.75, and
298483.76 by an amount necessary to reflect the percentage change
30in the California Consumer Price Index from the 2016-17 fiscal
31year, provided that adjustment does not result in a reduction in any
32fiscal year.
33(c) For purposes of making the computations required by Section
348 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, the appropriations
35made by subdivision (a) shall be deemed to be “General Fund
36revenues appropriated for school districts,” as defined in
37subdivision (c) of Section 41202, for the fiscal year in which they
38were appropriated, and included within the “total allocations to
39school districts and community college districts from General Fund
40proceeds of taxes appropriated pursuant to Article XIII B,” as
P4 1defined in subdivision (e) of Section
41202, for the fiscal year in
2which they were appropriated.
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