BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
                              Senator Isadore Hall, III
                                        Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:           SB 1120          Hearing Date:    4/12/2016
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          |Author:    |Wolk                                                 |
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          |Version:   |2/17/2016    Introduced                              |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:      |Yes             |
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          |Consultant:|Felipe Lopez                                         |
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          SUBJECT: Director of General Services:  Medical Facility at  
          Vacaville:  lease


            DIGEST:    This bill authorizes the Director of the Department  
          of General Services (DGS), with the consent of the California  
          Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), to renew an  
          existing lease agreement with the Solano County Office of  
          Education for the operation of the Irene Larsen Education Center  
          for persons with intellectual disabilities on land located  
          within the grounds of the Medical Facility at Vacaville for a  
          period not to exceed 50 years. 

          ANALYSIS:
          
          Existing law:
          
          1)Authorizes DGS with the consent of the CDCR, to lease a  
            specified property located within the Medical Facility at  
            Vacaville to a nonprofit corporation for the purpose of  
            conducting an educational and work program for persons with  
            intellectual disabilities, for a period not to exceed 50  
            years, and for the property not to exceed 10 acres. 

          2)Specifies that a lease executed within the Medical Facility at  
            Vacaville shall include a provision that the lease shall be  
            canceled if permanent facilities are not constructed on the  
            leased land within five years.








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          3)Provides that a lease pursuant to the property located within  
            the Medical Facility at Vacaville may be assigned or sublet in  
            whole or in part by the lessee nonprofit corporation to any  
            public agency with the approval of the Director of DGS and the  
            CDCR

          This bill:

          1)Authorizes the director of DGS, with the consent of CDCR, to  
            enter into a lease agreement with a nonprofit corporation or a  
            public entity, for the purpose of conducting an education and  
            work program for persons with intellectual disabilities.

          2)Specifies that the lease may be renewed for an additional  
            period not to exceed 50 years. 

          3)Deletes an obsolete provision that specifies that the lease  
            shall be canceled if permanent facilities are not constructed  
            on the leased land within five years after the effective date  
            of the amendments to this section enacted at the 1967 Regular  
            Session of the Legislature.

          Background

          Purpose of the bill.  The author argues that this bill makes  
          clear that DGS may renew the lease for an additional 50 year  
          term.  In addition, the bill also specifies that the lessee may  
          now be a public entity so that the local educational agency can  
          lease directly from the state without a nonprofit. 

          History.  In 1967, the Legislature gave DGS the authority to  
          lease a specified property located within the Medical Facility  
          at Vacaville, which at that time was owned by the CDCR, to a  
          nonprofit corporation to conduct an educational and work program  
          for persons with intellectual disabilities.  By 1968, the lease  
          was signed between the state and the Solano County Office of  
          Education (Solano COE) for a facility known as the Irene Larsen  
          Education Center.  The lease is set to expire on January 31,  
          2018. 

          While the Solano COE, DGS and CDCR intend to renew the lease, it  
          is believed that current law needs to be amended to execute a  
          new lease.  

          Irene Larsen Education Center.  The Irene Larsen Center is a  








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          special education center that primarily services children, from  
          birth to five years of age, with special education needs.  The  
          center is comprised of four infant-toddler programs and six  
          preschool programs.  The center also houses a full inclusion  
          ChildStart Program, which includes children ages 3-5, and a  
          post-secondary program for young adults with developmental  
          disabilities. 

          The early intervention program, known as the ME Too Program,  
          serves children from birth to age three with special needs, and  
          their families.  The program provides developmental assessments,  
          home visits, parent-toddler classes, speech and language  
          sessions or classes, parent education and support, and other  
          services necessary to support and meet the child's individual  
          needs.

          The preschool classes provide specialized instruction for  
          children three to five years of age who have developmental  
          delays.  Programs are provided for children with intensive and  
          non-intensive needs.  The program provides children with special  
          needs and typically developing children the opportunity to learn  
          and play together in an integrated setting.  

          The Larsen center also has a Post-Secondary Program that serves  
          young adults from 18 to 22 years of age with developmental  
          disabilities.  The goal of the program is to assist them in  
          learning essential life skills as they transition to adulthood.

          The Larsen Education Center currently serves 98 students, with  
          the majority being infant/toddlers and preschool students.   
          Students at the center reside in the Vacaville or Travis Unified  
          School Districts and qualify for Special Education services due  
          to moderate to severe disabilities requiring a low  
          student/teacher ratio.  Students receive instruction in twelve  
          classrooms. 

          The Larsen Center also employs over 40 staff members as  
          teachers, paraprofessionals, speech/language specialists,  
          occupational and physical therapists, school psychologists,  
          nurses, clerical staff and administrators.  

          Prior/Related Legislation
          
          SB 528 (Pan, 2015) would have increased the maximum term for DGS  
          to enter into lease agreements for the acquisition of property  








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          from five to 11 years without requiring Legislative oversight.   
          (Held in Senate Governmental Organization Committee at author's  
          request)

          AB 166 (Gaines, Chapter 211, Statutes of 2015) authorized DGS,  
          with the consent of CDCR, to enter into a long-term lease for  
          land on the grounds of the California State Prison at Folsom for  
          a non-state funded peace officers memorial and museum.

          AB 1503 (Gaines, 2014) would have required DGS, with the consent  
          of CDCR, to lease vacant real property on the grounds of Folsom  
          State Prison to the Old Guard Foundation, Inc., or a similar and  
          related nonprofit entity, for the construction and operation of  
          a peace officers memorial and museum facility.  (Vetoed by the  
          Governor)

          SB 1217 (Dutton, Chapter 707, Statutes of 2012) reauthorized a  
          statute that expressly allows the Director of DGS, with the  
          consent of the Department of State Hospitals, to lease a  
          building located at Patton State Hospital to a nonprofit  
          corporation or local government, for a period not to exceed 20  
          years, for the purpose of providing services to elderly persons.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:                 Appropriation:  No    Fiscal  
          Com.:             Yes          Local:          No


            SUPPORT:  

          Solano County Office of Education (Sponsor)

          OPPOSITION:

          None received

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:    According to the Solano County Office  
          of Education, "the Solano COE is able to lease the Irene Larsen  
          property from the state pursuant to a law enacted in 1967.  This  
          provision grants DGS the authority to lease property owned by  
          CDCR, but it does not specifically permit the state to renew its  
          lease.  By 1968, a 50 year lease commenced between the parties;  
          that lease expires on January 31, 2018.  In order to receive  
          funding to modernize and construct new facilities at Irene  
          Larsen, the State Allocation Board (SAB) requires the facility  








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          to have a lease of at least forty years.  Solano County, like  
          all county offices of education, does not have bonding capacity  
          to raise facility funding without state assistance through SAB.  
          SB 1120 is a practical bill that allows the Solano COE to  
          continue providing services to its student body."