BILL ANALYSIS
SB 365
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 365 (Ducheny) - As Amended: July 15, 2009
Policy Committee: Education Vote:8-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill changes the composition of the State Allocation Board
(SAB) and transfers the duties and staff of the Office of Public
School Construction (OPSC), which operates under the Department
of General Services (DGS), to the SAB on or after July 1, 2010,
as specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Adds four additional members to the SAB (for a total number of
13 rather than the current 10 members), all of whom are public
members appointed by the governor. The measure requires these
four members to have relevant experience in overall
construction of education facilities and specific experience
in the construction of facilities for pupils with special
needs.
2)Makes the Directors of the Department of Finance (DOF) and DGS
non-voting members of the SAB.
3)Requires the SAB to administer the School Facilities program
instead of the Director of DGS and authorizes the SAB to
appoint its own legal counsel, on and after July 1, 2010, or
seek legal assistance from the Office of the Attorney General.
4)Transfers the executive officer of OPSC to the SAB, effective
July 1, 2010, and specifies that the executive officer serves
at the pleasure of the SAB.
FISCAL EFFECT
This measure proposes to transfer OPSC's duties and authority,
including personnel, to the SAB, which would be cost neutral.
SB 365
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However, there are some administrative and legal duties,
including legislative affairs, that DGS staff performs on OPSC's
behalf. As such, these responsibilities would need to be
transferred to SAB, which would incur personnel costs, likely
between $300,000 to $600,000 GF or special fund (depending of
the number of staff needed). The 2009 Budget Act allocated
approximately $15.9 million GF in operating expenditures
(including personnel) for OPSC.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The SAB is a statutorily created state government
board that allocates general obligation bonds and other funds
used for the construction, modernization and maintenance and
repair of local public school facilities. It currently has a
total of 10 voting members: the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the Director of DOF, the Director of DGS, one
individual appointed by the governor, three members appointed
by the Senate Rules Committee, and three members appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly.
The SAB meets monthly to apportion funds to school districts,
act on appeals and adopt policies and regulations that govern
the administration of SAB programs. It is the policy-level
body for the programs administered by OPSC, including the
State School Facility program.
In August 2007, the Little Hoover Commission released a
report: The State Allocation Board: Improving Transparency and
Structure, which recommended that the SAB be an independent
entity. The report specifically recommended that the staff
and functions of OPSC be transferred to the SAB. It states,
"A single chain of command and system of accountability should
be created by transferring the staff and functions of the OPSC
from the DGS to the SAB. Education Code section 17070.2
should be amended to charge the SAB with the responsibility to
administer the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998.
The SAB should contract with the DGS for administrative
support and should contract for or hire its own legal
services."
This bill implements the Little Hoover Commission's
recommendations of eliminating OPSC and transferring its
duties and staff to the SAB, as specified. It also adds a
total of three public members to the board and makes the
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Directors of DOF and DGS nonvoting members.
2)The OPSC is the administrative staff for the SAB and exists as
a division within DGS. Its primary function is to administer
general obligation bonds and other monetary resources
available to the SAB for apportionment to school districts.
The OPSC develops regulations, policies, and procedures that
carry out the mandates of the SAB and also advises the SAB on
policy issues and legislative implementation.
The executive officer of the OPSC is a statutorily created
position, established in 1963, that is appointed by the
governor and serves at the discretion of the director of DGS.
Subsequently, the executive officer of the OPSC is appointed
executive officer of the SAB by resolution of the SAB. The
deputy executive officer is appointed by and reports to the
executive officer of the OPSC/SAB.
3)Previous legislation . SB 1552 (Margett), similar to this
measure, was held on this committee's suspense file in August
2008.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081