BILL ANALYSIS
SB 365
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Date of Hearing: July 8, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 365 (Ducheny) - As Amended: April 23, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 22-14
SUBJECT : State Allocation Board
SUMMARY : Makes changes to the composition of the State
Allocation Board (SAB) and transfers the duties, functions, and
staff of the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) within
the Department of General Services (DGS) to the SAB.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the SAB, rather than the Director of the DGS, to
administer the School Facility Program (SFP).
2)Eliminates the position of executive officer within the DGS
appointed by the Governor.
3)Adds three additional public members to the SAB to be
appointed by the Governor. Specifies that the appointees
shall have relevant experience, including, but not limited to,
experience in either of the following areas:
a) Educational facilities construction, engineering or
finance; or,
b) Expertise in compliance with the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act or other planning and construction
standards for pupils with special needs.
4)Provides that the members appointed by the Governor shall
serve staggered terms. Two of the four public members
appointed after the enactment of this bill shall serve a
two-year term and two shall serve a four-year term. Upon the
expiration of these terms, subsequent public members shall
serve four-year terms. Authorizes the reappointment of the
public members to an additional term or terms.
5)Changes the Director of Finance or his or her designee, and
the Director of General Services or his or her designee to
nonvoting members of the SAB.
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6)Requires the DGS to provide assistance to the SAB as the SAB
requires, including, but not necessarily limited to, the
provision of the office space necessary to administer the
affairs of the SAB at a cost and in an amount comparable to
the accommodations of the SAB as of January 1, 2009.
7)Requires the SAB, by a majority vote of the voting members, to
elect a chair and vice chair from its membership to serve
one-year terms. Provides that the chair and vice chair shall
be eligible to serve no more than two consecutive terms.
8)Requires the SAB, by a majority vote of the voting members, to
do all of the following:
a) Appoint an executive officer, who shall serve at the
pleasure of the SAB;
b) Determine the salary and other compensation of the
executive officer; and,
c) Employ additional staff members, and secure office space
and furnishings, as necessary to support the executive
officer in the performance of his or her duties.
9)Eliminates the position of assistant executive officer.
10)Provides that on or after January 1, 2010, the OPSC shall be
transferred from the jurisdiction of the DGS to that of the
SAB. Provides that effective January 1, 2010, the civil
service staff of the OPSC shall be transferred to the SAB with
no loss of civil service rights and privileges that pertained
to those employees prior to that date.
11)Provides that effective January 1, 2010, the general services
planning officer, procurement officer, and executive officer
of the OPSC shall be transferred to the SAB and on and after
that date, shall service at the pleasure of the SAB.
Specifies that on and after January 1, 2010, a vacancy in any
of these positions shall be filled through an appointment by
the Governor, upon recommendation by the SAB. Provides that
the duties and salary of each officer shall be determined by
the SAB.
EXISTING LAW establishes the SAB and requires the SAB to adopt
rules and regulations for the administration of the SFP and
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appropriate state education bond funds to eligible local
education agencies. Existing law also requires the Direction of
the DGS to administer the SFP.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, transferring the functions of almost 150 employees
from OPSC to the SAB is cost neutral. However, as OPSC is
currently established within DGS, it does benefit from the
assistance of non-OPSC DGS staff to perform certain functions
related to administration and legislative and legal affairs. It
is likely the OPSC would need to hire about 5 or 6 positions at
a total approximate cost of $600,000 to keep current services
intact. Most of these costs would likely be covered from bond
funds.
COMMENTS : Currently, the SAB is comprised of the following ten
members: the Director of the Department of Finance (DOF) or
his/her designee; the Director of DGS or his/her designee; the
Superintendent of Public Instruction or his/her designee; an
individual appointed by the Governor; 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. The chair of the SAB is and has been the DOF
representative for many years, if not since its inception, even
though the statute is silent on chair and vice chair positions.
Current 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. The
SAB meets 11 times a year on a monthly basis, except in
November.
Current law also establishes the 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 SFP and other
programs of the SAB, prepares recommendations for the SAB's
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review and approval, prepares regulations, policies and
procedures which carry out the mandates of the SAB, and prepares
agendas for the SAB meetings.
The genesis of this bill derived from former Senator Bob
Margett, who, as a member of the SAB, witnessed conflicts
between executive officers, who are appointed by the Governor,
and the assistant executive officers, who are appointed by the
SAB, due to the incongruent governance structure. There were
also concerns expressed that the executive officer report to
multiple bosses - the Governor, DGS, and the SAB - and it is
unclear which entity takes precedent. Senator Margett
introduced SB 1585 in 2006, which proposed the placement of OPSC
employees, including the executive officer, under the direct
control of the SAB. Senator Margett withdrew the bill to allow
the Little Hoover Commission to study the governance structure
of the SAB, including its interaction with OPSC and the DGS, and
make recommendations. In August 2007, the Commission issued its
report titled "The State Allocation Board: Improving
Transparency and Structure," 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 or her designee serve as the
statutory chair of the SAB.
2)The SAB should be an independent entity. Staff and functions
of the 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.
In its review, the Little Hoover Commission opined that the SAB,
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while operating adequately, 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 suggested that the legislative majority and
pleasure appointments on the SAB had, on occasion, permitted
politics to trump policy in allocation decisions.
In 2007, Senator Margett introduced SB 1552, which was similar
but not identical to this bill, implementing some of the Little
Hoover Commission recommendations. SB 1552 was held on the
Assembly Appropriations Committee's suspense file. This bill
varies in the number of public appointments by the Governor.
This bill adds three additional public members to be appointed
by the Governor and changes the DOF and DGS representatives to
nonvoting members. Under this bill, the SAB will increase from
10 to 13 members, including two who are nonvoting members. Both
bills transfer the function of the OPSC to the SAB, authorize
the SAB to appoint the Executive Officer and eliminate the
position of Assistant Executive Officer. However, while SB 1552
maintains a deputy executive officer, this bill does not,
although nothing prohibits the SAB from appointing one if it
chooses to do so.
Committee amendments :
1)This bill limits the chair and vice chair positions to two
consecutive one-year terms. Given the technical nature of
school facility construction, it may be beneficial to have
chairs with some experience. Staff recommends extending the
term limits to three or four consecutive one-year terms.
2)This bill transfers the OPSC staff from DGS to the SAB
effective January 1, 2010. This results in personnel changes
in the middle of a fiscal year and may not provide adequate
time to make administrative changes. Staff recommends
changing the effective date to July 1, 2010.
3)There is conflict between sections 3 and 4 of the bill
regarding the appointment of the Executive Officer. Section 3
authorizes the SAB to make appointment while section 4
requires the Governor to make the appointment. Staff
recommends striking the language in section 4.
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4)This bill is silent on appointment of legal counsel.
Currently, the legal counsel is staff to the DGS and is
appointed by the Director of DGS to serve the SAB. Staff
recommends clarifying that the SAB has authority to appoint
its own legal counsel or seek counsel assistance from the
Attorney General's office.
5)This bill transfers the general services planning officer and
procurement officer from DGS to the SAB. However, these are
currently not independent positions, but rather, services
currently provided by DGS. Staff recommends deleting these
positions from the transfer.
Arguments in Support . The Advancement Project states, "We
believe that while operating adequately, the State Allocation
Board could benefit from strengthening the board's governance
structure, equipping it with independent staff, streamlining its
management, and enhancing its accountability, transparency, and
efficiency for the purpose of improving educational outcomes of
California's children and youth."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Advancement Project
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087