BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 365|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 365
Author: Ducheny (D)
Amended: 4/23/09
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-3, 04/15/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Padilla, Simitian
NOES: Huff, Maldonado, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SUBJECT : State Allocation Board: Office of Public School
Construction
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires that the functions, officers,
and employees of the Office of Public School Construction
be transferred from the jurisdiction of the Department of
General Services to that of the State Allocation Board on
January 1, 2010, and changes the membership of the State
Allocation Board, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the 10-member State
Allocation Board (SAB) and provides that members consist of
the Director of Finance, the Director of the Department of
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General Services (DGS), a person appointed by the Governor,
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, three members of
the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, two
of whom shall belong to the majority party and one of whom
shall belong to the minority party, and three members of
the Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, two
of whom shall belong to the majority party and one of whom
shall belong to the minority party. Existing law
authorizes the SAB to apportion funds for the construction
of school facilities and to establish any qualifications,
procedures and policies, and rules and regulations it deems
necessary to administer and expend funds made available for
school facility construction purposes.
Existing law also establishes the Office of Public School
Construction (OPSC) within the DGS and authorizes DGS to
assign an executive officer to the OPSC. The executive
officer may be appointed by the Governor, upon
recommendation of the Director of DGS and serves at the
Director's pleasure. The OPSC serves as staff to the SAB
and among other things, implements and administers the
School Facility Program and other programs of the SAB,
prepares recommendations for the SAB's review and approval,
prepares regulations, policies and procedures which carry
out the mandates of the SAB, and prepares agendas for the
SAB meetings.
This bill:
1. Requires the SAB, rather than the Director of DGS to
administer the School Facilities Program.
2. Requires the transfer of the functions and staff of the
OPSC from DGS to the SAB on January 1, 2010. More
specifically it:
A. Requires the transfer of OPSC civil service
staff with no loss of civil service rights and
privileges.
B. Requires the transfer of general services,
procurement and executive officer positions of the
OPSC to the SAB and further:
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(1) Requires vacancies in these positions
be filled by Governor's appointment, upon the
recommendation of the SAB.
(2) Requires duties and salaries of each
officer be determined by the SAB.
3. Changes the membership of the SAB. Specifically it:
A. Makes the Director of Finance and the Director
of General Services nonvoting members of the SAB.
B. Reduces the number of Senate appointments on the
SAB from three to two members and authorizes the
Senate Rules Committee to appoint one public member
to the SAB.
C. Reduces the number of Assembly appointments on
the SAB from three to two members and authorizes
the Speaker of the Assembly to appoint one public
member to the SAB.
D. Requires that the Governor appoint four public
members that have relevant experience that may
include, but not be limited to, educational
facilities construction, engineering, finance, or
expertise in compliance with federal planning and
construction standards for students with special
needs.
E. Requires that members serve staggered 4-year
terms, as specified and authorizes the
re-appointment of members for additional terms.
4. Requires that DGS provide assistance to the SAB
including the provision of office space, as specified.
5. Requires the SAB to elect a chair and vice-chair from
its membership to serve one year terms, for no more than
two consecutive terms.
6. Requires the SAB, by a majority vote, to appoint and
determine salary and other compensation for an executive
officer.
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7. Eliminates the duties/need for an assistant executive
officer.
Comments
Little Hoover Commission Report . In August 2006, the
legislative members of the State Allocation Board submitted
a written request to the Little Hoover Commission to
conduct a study of the SAB and its interaction with OPSC
and DGS. In August 2007, the Commission issued its report,
which, among other things, made the following three
recommendations:
1. The SAB should be reformed to increase public and expert
participation, better balance executive and legislative
roles and improve accountability and better represent
California's geographic diversity. The report proposed
specific changes to the SAB composition, recommended
that members serve staggered, fixed terms and
recommended that the director of the Department of
Finance or his/her designee serve as the statutory chair
of the SAB.
2. The SAB should be an independent entity. Staff and
functions of OPSC should be transferred from the DGS to
the SAB which could then contract with the DGS for
administrative support and contract for or hire its own
legal services. Additionally, it recommended that the
SAB develop and submit its own budget, hire its own
executive officer and eliminate the position of
assistant executive officer with those functions
reallocated, as appropriate, to the executive officer
and deputy executive officer of the SAB.
3. To increase its transparency to the public and
stakeholders, the board should formally adopt its own
rules of order.
The provisions of this bill generally implement some of the
changes proposed in the Little Hoover Commission report.
What's the effect ? In its review, the Little Hoover
Commission opined that the SAB, while operating adequately,
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potentially was vulnerable to political manipulation. The
transfer of the OPSC staff directly to the SAB responds to
concerns raised by the Commission that the SAB should be an
independent entity with the authority to develop its own
budget and hire its own executive officer. The Commission
also opined that the legislative majority and pleasure
appointments on the SAB had, on occasion, permitted
politics to trump policy in allocation decisions.
The new structure proposed by this bill creates a
nine-member board. It includes the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, eliminates the legislative majority by
reducing the total number of legislative appointees to
four, and increases the number of Governor's public
appointees from one to four. The Director of Finance and
the Director of DGS, who have arguably served as Governor's
representatives in the past, would now only serve on the
SAB as non-voting members.
Prior legislation
This bill is very similar to SB 1552 (Margett), of 2008
which passed the Senate 4-0 and ultimately held under
submission by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Administration $300 $600 $600 Bond*
*Proposition 1D and other school facilities bonds
DLW:do 5/29/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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