BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 675|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 675
Author: Steinberg (D), et al
Amended: 4/2/09
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/1/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado, Padilla,
Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Huff, Wyland
SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEVEL. COMMITTEE : 8-1, 4/27/09
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Wyland, Corbett, Correa, Florez,
Oropeza, Romero, Yee
NOES: Aanestad
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 1/21/10
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Leno, Liu, Price, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters
SUBJECT : Energy job training
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill enacts the Clean Technology and
Renewable Energy Job Training, Career Technical Education,
and Dropout Prevention Act of 2010 to provide funds to
qualifying entities for construction or reconfiguring
facilities to provide program participants with skills and
knowledge necessary for successful employment related to
CONTINUED
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clean technology, renewable energy, or energy efficiency.
Funds will be provided in the form of grants for $3 million
for qualifying new education-related modernization
projects. This bill creates a council for the purposes of
developing guidelines to implement this act and will
empower to issue and renew negotiable bonds, notes,
debentures, or other sources of security that will be
secured by monies appropriated by the Legislature from the
Public Interest Research, Development, and demonstration
fund.
ANALYSIS : Proposition 1D, authorized by AB 127 (Nunez
and Perata), Chapter 35, Statutes of 2006, and approved by
the voters in November 2006, provided $7.3 billion for K-12
school facilities, and established the Career Technical
Education Facilities Program, providing $500 million to
construct or modernize facilities for this purpose.
Existing law creates the Public Interest Research,
Development, and Demonstration Fund for the purpose of
making awards for projects or programs that are not
provided for by competitive and regulated markets. The
revenue for this fund comes from electrical utility
corporations and is available upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
This bill establishes the Clean Technology and Renewable
Energy Job Training, Career Technical Education and Dropout
Prevention Act of 2010. More specifically it:
1. Establishes the Clean Technology and Renewable Energy
Job Training, Career Technical Education and Dropout
Prevention fund in the State Treasury to provide
competitive grants for the purpose of constructing or
reconfiguring new facilities with a useful life
expectancy of at least 20 years or the length of bond
maturity to provide program participants with skills and
knowledge necessary for successful employment related to
clean technology, renewable energy, or energy
efficiency.
2. Defines various terms in the bill including:
(1) Council : The Clean Technology and Renewable
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Energy Job Training, Career Technical Education and
Dropout Prevention Council comprised of the
Secretaries of the Natural Resources Agency
(chair), Labor and Workforce Development,
Environmental Protection, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges, two members
appointed by the Senate Rules Committee and two
members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly,
as specified.
(2) Eligible entity : Those eligible to apply for
the competitive grants to include a public school
serving any of grades 7-12, a California community
college, a public entity providing career technical
education including a county office of education or
school agency joint powers authority, a publicly or
investor owned facility, a non-profit organization,
a labor organization, a business entity, a
state-approved apprenticeship program, a regional
collaborative, as specified, the California
Conservation Corp or a certified local conservation
corp., a public postsecondary educational
institution or any other entity approved by the
Council.
(3) Program participants : Those served by the
eligible entities including middle or high school
pupils, community college students, job trainees,
incumbent workers, members of the California
Conservation corps, as specified, or minors or
adults under 22 years of age either on probation or
participating in programs that include career
technical education as an alternative to
conviction, incarceration or adjudication, as
specified.
3. Outlines various elements of the competitive grants
program proposed by the bill. Specifically it:
(1) Requires the State Allocation Board (SAB) to
administer grant applications and to implement the
program pursuant to regulations and guidelines
established by the Council.
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(2) Requires grants be allocated on a per square
foot basis and prohibits any requirement that
students be unhoused or that facilities meet any
age requirements to receive a grant under the
program.
(3) Establishes a maximum of $3 million per project
per eligible entity for new construction grants for
either stand-alone projects or as supplements to
the per pupil allocation under the existing new
construction program. Establishes a maximum of $1.5
million per project per eligible entity for
modernization grants for the purpose of
reconfiguration and provides that the grant be
supplemental to the per pupil allocation provided
under the existing modernization program.
(4) Requires the eligible entity to contribute
toward the project on a 50/50 match basis and
authorizes the local contribution to come from
private industry groups, the school district or a
joint powers authority and authorizes the
reduction, but not the elimination of the match at
the discretion of the Council.
(5) Authorizes the repayment of the local
contribution over time but prohibits the SAB from
waiving the local contribution on any basis.
(6) Requires that applicants meet any criteria
established by the Council and also enter into
agreements, as specified, to engage in specified
activities related to education, job training, or
providing employment and career opportunities to
program participants.
(7) Requires the Council to develop guidelines for
awarding the competitive grants, specifies a number
of elements to be included in the grant application
and requires priority be given to projects serving
students in grades 7-12, dedicated to dropout
prevention and career technical education, in
communities with schools that rank in the bottom
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three deciles of the Academic Performance Index
(API), as specified, in communities with higher
than average rates of dropouts, low-income
households, or other challenges, as specified, and
projects initiated by the California Conservation
Corps or a certified local conservation corps.
(8) Authorizes the Council to use state agency
personnel in administering outreach, education,
technical assistance, guideline development and
grant application review.
(9) Requires that every proposed activity or
project financed be in compliance with the
California Environmental Quality Act, and that real
property acquisitions are from willing sellers.
(10) Authorizes up to five percent of funds be
allocated for administrative costs of the program.
(11) Requires the body awarding a contract for a
public works project financed from these funds to
adopt and enforce a labor compliance program, as
specified.
(12) Requires the chair of the Council to provide
for an annual independent audit of expenditures
from the fund.
4. Makes fiscal provision for the funding of the grant
program. Specifically it:
(1) Authorizes the Council to incur indebtedness
and issue and renew negotiable bonds, notes,
debentures or other securities of any kind or
class.
(2) Requires all indebted incurred to be paid
solely from moneys from the Public Interest
Research Development and Demonstration Fund and
from funds appropriated by the Legislature in the
annual Budget Act for this purpose and requires
that proceeds from the sale of these instrument be
deposited into the Clean Technology and Renewable
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Energy Job Training, Career Technical Education and
Dropout Prevention fund in the State Treasury.
(3) Specifies that the funds appropriated by the
Legislature in the annual Budget Act for this
purpose shall not exceed an unspecified amount.
(4) Authorizes the Legislature by statute, to
authorize the Council to issue bonds in excess of
the unspecified amount provided for in the bill.
(5) Declares that bonds issued do not constitute a
debt or liability of the state or any political
subdivision of the state other than the Council and
that the issuance of bonds under these provisions
does not obligate the state or any political
subdivision of the state to levy or pledge of any
form of taxation or to make any appropriation for
their payment.
Comments
According to information provided by the author's office,
this bill is intended to address two key state priorities:
(1) reducing the high school dropout rate by encouraging
the construction or reconfiguration of facilities that will
provide engaging career technical education to students,
and (2) developing a skilled workforce that is prepared to
take advantage of opportunities created by emerging green
technologies.
According to the California Labor Federation and the State
Building Trades and Construction Council of California,
this measure promotes career technical education and
incentives innovative public-private education and
workforce preparation partnerships with businesses, high
schools, community colleges and union apprenticeship
programs. They assert the measure ensures that the
investment in transportation, energy infrastructure, water,
industry, and many clean technologies produced by the
implementation of AB 32, voter approved infrastructure
investment and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
and also benefits California's most underserved and at-risk
communities. They also believe that all students benefit
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from academically rigorous, relevant standards aligned in
career technical education (CTE) courses and further state
that the public education system is failing countless
middle and high school students by not providing a
well-rounded education that engages and motivates students
to finish school. They point to the record high dropout
rate as an example of the disconnect between current
college bound curriculum emphasized in schools and the
career aspirations of California's student population.
Background : California Department of Education (CDE)
2006-07 data shows that, statewide, California has a 67.6
percent high school graduation rate and 24.2 percent
dropout rate. Graduation and dropout rates vary among
counties and the same data illustrates the following
dropout rate disparities among ethnic groups:
Ethnicity Graduation RateDropout
Rate
White 84.8% 15.2%
African American 58.4 41.6
American Indian 68.7 31.3
Asian 89.2 10.2
Filipino 88.1 11.9
Hispanic/Latino 69.7 30.3
Pacific Islander 72.1 27.9
Other CDE data on CTE indicates that the number of CTE
classes declined approximately 24 percent between 1997-98
and 2006-07. Recent research by Kenneth C. Gray and Edwin
L. Herr of Pennsylvania State University indicates that
while many high school students matriculate to college,
relatively few go on to both earn a college degree and work
in a job requiring a college degree. Gray and Herr argue
that providing a range of educational coursework, including
opportunities for contextual and applied learning and
rigorous academics, creates more alternatives for high
school students and enables them to make more informed
choices about career pathways following high school.
Prior legislation
A similar bill was SB 1672 (Steinberg) of 2008 which died
in the Assembly Appropriation Committee.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the California Energy Commission, its proposed
FY 2009-10 budget includes $74.2 million in the Public
Interest Research Development and Demonstration Fund (PIER)
funds to support approximately 70 positions, operating and
baseline technical support contracts and $62.5 million for
pass through research, development and demonstration
projects. PIER funds are currently used to fund research
projects to develop new energy technologies. These funds
will be redirected for the purposes outlined in this bill.
Currently law restricts the expenditure of these funds for
specified purposes from 2007 until 2012. To make the
funding mechanism of this bill viable, it will likely be
necessary to extend the statutory life of the PIER fund.
As the bill does not currently specify an amount of debt
that will be issued by the Council, the exact cost of this
bill is unknown. Assuming, for one example, that the
intent was to use approximately half of the available
amount of the PIER fund to pay-off the debt issued by the
Council at an interest rate of five percent, the Council
could issue $450 million in bonds. The total repayment
over 20 years will be $722 million. Of course, the actual
amount will be dependent on future legislative action
concerning the fund and the authority ultimately granted to
the Council. In addition to the costs of debt repayment,
the Office of Public School Construction indicates costs of
$900,000 for administering grant applications and operating
the program.
SUPPORT : (Verified 1/25/10)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Apollo Alliance
Association of California School Administrators
Bloom Energy
California Association of Local Conservation Corps.
California Association of Regional Occupation Centers and
Programs
California Catholic Conference
California Community Colleges
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California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California Labor Federation
California League of Conservation Voters
California School Boards Association
Calpine Corp.
City of Sacramento
Construction Employers' Association
Elk Grove Unified School District
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights - Green Collar Jobs
Campaign
Green Technical Education and Employment
Long Beach Community College
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Rios Community College District
Metropolitan Education District
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sacramento Conservation Corps
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Unified School District
School for Integrated Academics and Technologies
Sierra Club
State Construction and Building Trades of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Several organizations have written
in support of this bill and contend that it establishes
partnerships between schools, ROC/Ps and various other
entities to work together to make California an
international leader in clean technology and renewable
energy. They state that this investment in reducing the
dropout rate, expanding workforce opportunities and
targeting climate change will create major economic
stimulus for clean energy and technology jobs that will
improve the quality of life for all Californians.
DLW:do 1/25/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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