BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 252
AUTHOR: Denham
INTRODUCED: February 24, 2009
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: April 1, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
NOTE : This bill has been requested by the Senate
Appropriations Committee. A do pass motion should include
a referral to the Senate Rules Committee for consideration
of the referral request of the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
SUBJECT : Deferred Maintenance Funding
SUMMARY
This bill expands the uses of deferred maintenance funding
to include the use of these funds for internal connections
for education technology wiring.
BACKGROUND
Current law authorizes the governing board of a school
district to establish a restricted deferred maintenance
fund, and provides for the deposit of prescribed local
funds, and for the deposit of matching state funds. Current
law also requires the State Allocation Board (SAB) to
apportion to school districts the state matching funds for
deferred maintenance.
Under the School Facility Program (SFP), administered by
the SAB, local education agencies are eligible to receive
per-pupil grants from state education bond funds for
construction or modernization of schools. Applications for
new construction are submitted on a district-wide or High
School Attendance Area basis, while applications for
modernization are submitted on a site by site basis.
To be eligible for modernization funding, a permanent
building must be at least 25-years old and a relocatable
building must be at least 20-years old. Projects eligible
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under modernization include such modifications as air
conditioning, plumbing, lighting, and electrical systems
and eligible project costs include funding for, among other
things, design, education technology, and
furniture/equipment.
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Expands the purposes for which deferred maintenance
funding may be used. Specifically, it defines
"electrical" for the purposes of allowable uses for
deferred maintenance funding to:
a) Include internal connections for
education technology wiring.
b) Include components necessary to
transmit information to school buildings, as
specified.
c) Exclude services that extend
beyond the school campus or library branch.
2) Makes technical and conforming changes.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Is this bill necessary ? SBX3 4 (Ducheny, Chapter 12,
Statutes of 2009) allows full funding flexibility for
a number of K-12 education programs, including
deferred maintenance and provides that such
flexibility shall be provided for the next five fiscal
years. It appears that districts currently have the
flexibility and discretion to use these funds for the
purpose of internal connectivity. In light of
changing technology and the potential for additional
state, federal or even private sources of funding in
the future, would it be more prudent to consider such
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a change once the flexibility provisions provided for
in the current budget agreement are inoperative?
2) Current program . Funding for the Deferred Maintenance
Program comes primarily from the Budget Act
(proposition 98 funding), but also includes excess
repayments from the former State School Building Aid
Program, and State School Site Utilization funds. The
SAB annually apportions funds for this program for the
purpose of providing assistance to school districts
for major repair or replacement of existing school
building components. According to the Office of
Public School Construction, while electrical expenses
are currently eligible for deferred maintenance
funding, the internal connections authorized by this
bill would not be an eligible expense as they would be
viewed as an upgrade, versus repair work.
3) Fiscal impact . As noted in comment #1, deferred
maintenance funding is provided from the General Fund.
This bill would authorize the use of these funds for
purposes not currently considered eligible expenses.
Although Legislative Counsel has identified this bill
as non-fiscal, to the extent that the bill expands the
use of current funds for new purposes, this bill would
create pressure on the state General Fund to support
these expanded activities.
4) Other sources for this purpose . The Schools and
Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund,
commonly known as "E-Rate," is administered by the
Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under
the direction of the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), and provides discounts to assist most schools
and libraries in the United States to obtain
affordable telecommunications and Internet access.
This program is funded through a Universal Service fee
charged to companies that provide interstate and/or
international telecommunications services. Funding can
be requested for telecommunications services, Internet
access, internal connections, and basic maintenance of
internal connections. Discounts for support depend on
the level of poverty and the urban/rural status of the
population served and range from 20% to 90% of the
costs of eligible services. According to the
California Department of Education, in 2007-08, $228
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million for internal connections was approved for 196
primarily high poverty school districts (approximately
19% of the total number of districts). Generally, only
86% of the actual costs to these districts were
covered by the program.
In addition, the electrical "upgrades" described by
this bill would be considered eligible expenditures
under the School Facility Program modernization or new
construction programs. Staff notes that eligibility
for modernization funding would require that a
permanent building must be at least 25-years old and a
relocatable building must be at least 20-years old.
SUPPORT
Central Valley Education Coalition
OPPOSITION
None received.