BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2909
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 2909
(Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife) - As Amended April 5,
2016
SUBJECT: State Parks Revenue Incentive Subaccount
SUMMARY: Clarifies the information that must be included in a
projection of costs for activities funded by the State Parks
Revenue Incentive Subaccount, and requires the Department of
Parks & Recreation (DPR) to provide an accounting to donors of
expenditures of donations deposited in the State Park Contingent
Fund. Specifically, this bill:
1)Clarifies that projections of costs for revenue generation
projects funded with revenues from the State Park Revenue
Generation Subaccount in the State Parks and Recreation Fund
shall include those costs that are appropriate to the project.
2)Requires DPR, for each donation received and deposited in the
State Park Contingent Fund, provide the donor of record with a
quarterly accounting of all expenditures made from the donated
funds.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Establishes the State Parks Revenue Incentive Subaccount in
the State Parks and Recreation Fund, and continuously
appropriates funds in the subaccount to DPR for activities,
programs and projects that are consistent with the mission of
DPR and increase DPR's capacity to generate revenue and
implement a revenue generating program. Requires that
activities funded by the subaccount include, among other
things, a projection of costs, including design, planning,
construction, operation, staff, maintenance, marketing, and
information technology.
2)Authorizes DPR to enter into agreements to accept donations of
funds from any person for the maintenance, operation,
restoration, repair, development, improvement, or enhancement
of a state park system unit. Requires that any funds so
received be deposited in a separate account in the State Park
Contingent Fund. Provides that such funds shall supplement,
but not replace existing resources for support of the parks.
Requires DPR and the donating entity to specify in the
agreement the level of service that is to be performed.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: This bill is a committee bill of the Assembly Water,
Parks and Wildlife Committee that would make a technical
amendment to clarify the information that is required to be
included in projections of costs for revenue generation projects
funding from the State Park Revenue Generation Subaccount. This
bill would also require DPR to provide quarterly accountings to
donors of expenditures of funds donated for support of state
park units.
1)Author's Statement: AB 2909 is a committee bill of the
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Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee that would
clarify the information that must be included in cost analyses
required for state park revenue generation projects, and
improve the accounting that the state provides to state park
donors.
2)Background: DPR manages a system of 280 parks covering more
than 1.5 million acres of the State's natural, cultural and
historic sites. In 2011, DPR was in serious financial trouble
to the point where 70 parks were proposed for closure. In
2012, the Legislature passed a package of bills [AB 1478
(Blumenfield), Chapter 530; AB 1589 (Huffman), Chapter 533;
and SB 1018 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 39, Statutes of
2012] that averted the need to close parks. Part of the
long-term solution envisioned in that package of bills was to
develop and implement a plan for parks to increase their
revenue generation. The Legislature required that
expenditures of funds used to increase revenue generation for
parks needed to include a clear description of the use of the
funds, an implementation plan, a projection of revenue, a
projection of costs, a demonstration of demand, and a
projected rate of return. The Legislature also clarified
DPR's authority to accept donations of funds, services and
projects for support of state parks in AB 549 (Levine),
Chapter 559, Statues of 2015. Monetary donations received by
DPR are deposited in the State Park Contingent Fund.
An independent commission known as the Parks Forward Commission
was created in 2013 to develop recommendations on ways to
improve the long term sustainability of the state park system.
The Commission produced a report that includes a number of
recommendations, including recommendations for protection of
natural resources, improving park access for underserved
communities, improving and expanding park partnerships, and
enhancing revenue generation. DPR also established a
Transformation Team that is working on implementing the
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recommendations. The Commission and the Transformation Team
continue to work on revenue generation efforts for state
parks, along with other priorities, such as park access and
partnerships.
This bill would clarify that the specifics of the cost analysis
required for revenue generation projects funded with revenues
from the State Parks Revenue Generation subaccount are based
on parameters that would reasonably apply to the project.
Existing law requires that the analysis include specific items
that are not always applicable to every revenue project. For
example, staffing a kiosk with seasonal staff would not
necessarily require analysis of information technology,
design, construction or planning. This bill clarifies that
only those items which are appropriate or reasonably
applicable to the specific revenue project need to be included
in the analysis.
This bill would also specify that for each donation received by
DPR and deposited in the State Park Contingent Fund, DPR shall
provide the donor with a quarterly accounting of expenditures
made from the donated funds. This will help provide
confidence to donors that donations in support of state parks
will continue to be used for the purposes agreed to by the
donor and the state.
3)Prior and Related Legislation: AB 549 (Levine), Chapter 559,
Statutes of 2015, streamlined the process for review and
approval of proposed state park concession agreements, and
clarified DPR's authority to accept donations of funds,
services and projects for support of state parks.
SB 1018 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 39, Statutes of 2012,
among other things, required DPR to develop a revenue
generation program as an essential component of a long-term
sustainable park funding strategy, in accordance with
prescribed requirements. It also created the State Parks
Revenue Incentive Subaccount within the State Parks and
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Recreation Fund.
AB 1589 (Huffman), Chapter 533, Statutes of 2012, enacted the
California State Park Stewardship Act of 2012, and, among
other things, required DPR to develop a prioritized action
plan to increase revenues at state parks.
4)Support Arguments: None received.
5)Opposition Arguments: None received.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Diane Colborn / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096
AB 2909
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