BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
334 (Ducheny)
Hearing Date: 05/28/2009 Amended: 04/23/09
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 5-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 334 would require the State Allocation Board
(SAB) to apply increases to the per pupil grant amount for new
construction funding authorized by Proposition 1D to the per
pupil grant amount for special day class students.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Special day class $1,500 $3,000 $3,000 Bond*
construction
*Proposition 1D
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Proposition 1D (AB 127, Nunez and Perata, Chapter 35/2006),
approved $7.3 billion in funding for K-12 education facilities,
of which $1.9 billion was designated for new construction.
Proposition 1D also specified increases (7% for elementary and
middle school pupils, and 4% for high school pupils) in the per
pupil grant amounts for new construction funding. The
initiative, however, did not specify increases related to
special education pupils (special day class pupils), who are
funded based on the extent of disability (severe and nonsevere)
rather than by grade. Current per pupil grants are $24,066 for
severe special education pupils and $16,095 for nonsevere
pupils. Current per pupil grants for the traditional classroom
are $8,081 for K-6 pupils, $8,546 for grades 7-8, and $10,873
for grades 9-12. Typically, districts are expected to provide a
50% match of grant funds, though "hardship" districts can
receive up to 100% of needed funding from the state.
This bill would require the SAB to apply any prospective
adjustments made to the traditional classroom grants to the
special education grants. Under current law, the SAB may
increase traditional classroom grants annually up to 6 percent
to reflect increases in construction costs, but the SAB has no
authority to provide increases for special day class grants.
By increasing the grants for special day class construction,
this bill would increase the pressure on bond funds, potentially
reduce the number of projects completed through existing
proceeds, and create pressure for additional bonds. According
to the Office of Public School Construction, this bill would
result in annual increased bond funding pressure of $3 million.
Similar legislation, SB 704 (Ducheny), was held under submission
by this committee in 2007.