BILL NUMBER: AB 1605	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 27, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 16, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Coto

                        JANUARY 6, 2010

   An act to add and repeal Section 17303.5 of the Education Code,
relating to school facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1605, as amended, Coto. School facilities: plan review.

   Existing law requires the 
    The  Department of General Services  is required
 to supervise the design and construction of school buildings to
ensure that plans and specifications comply with various structural
safety standards,  as specified   and requires
the department to pass upon and approve or reject all plans for the
construction or modernization of any school building . 
Existing law requires a local educational agency to submit a plan for
the construction, and in specified cases, the alteration, of any
school building prior to adopting the plan. An applicant 
 A local educational agency that submits a plan  is required
to pay a filing fee to the department  based on the
estimated cost of the work, in accordance with a specified schedule,
and is required to make an election to either use the department to
review the plan or request that the plan review be performed by a
qualified plan review firm, as specified. If the department is
elected, the department is required to take specified actions to
expedite the review of the applicant's plan, including, among other
things, employing additional staff on a temporary basis 
 , which is paid into the State Treasury and credited to the
Public School Planning, Design, and Construction Review Revolving
Fund, a continuously appropriated fund  .
    This   bill would specify that an employee funded by
those fees is exempt from any furlough implemented by any state
agency, board, or commission. The bill would require the department
to complete and return its initial review of a school construction or
modernization plan within a specified number of days, depending on
the estimated cost of the project, from the date the local
educational agency submitted the plan.  
   This bill would authorize a local educational agency to agree to
pay an additional fee to the department for the department's cost to
employ additional staff to expedite its review of that local
educational agency's plan. The bill would exempt employees funded by
those fees from furloughs implemented by any state agency, board, or
commission. The 
    The   bill would require the department to submit a
report containing specified information to the Senate and Assembly
Committees on Education by January 1, 2016. The  bill would
repeal those provisions on January 1, 2017.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 17303.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read: 
   17303.5.  (a) A local educational agency may agree to pay an
additional fee to the Department of General Services for the
department's cost to employ additional staff to expedite its review
of that local educational agency's plan if the school seeking
construction or modernization is a low performing school, as
identified by that school's position in the lowest two deciles of
pupil performance in the year immediately preceding the year that the
plan is submitted for review.
   (b) 
    17303.5.    (a)  Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, an employee funded by a fee collected pursuant to
 this section   Section 17301  is exempt
from any furlough implemented by any state agency, board, or
commission. 
   (c) 
    (b)  The Department of General Services shall complete
and return its initial review of a school construction or
modernization plan  as follows:  
   (1) For a project with an estimated cost of less than twenty
million dollars ($20,000,000), within 90 days from the date the plan
was submitted by the local educational agency.  
    (2) For a project with an estimated cost of twenty million
dollars ($20,000,000) or more, within 120 days from the date the plan
was submitted by the local educational agency. 
    within 120 days from the date the plan was submitted by the local
educational agency  pursuant to this section  .

   (c) By January 1, 2016, the Department of General Services shall
submit to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Education a report on
the average number of days required to complete the initial review
of plans submitted on or after January 1, 2011.  
   (d) The report required pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
 
   (d) 
    (e)  This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or
extends that date.