BILL ANALYSIS
SB 847
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 847 (Steinberg)
As Amended August 30, 2010
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
EDUCATION 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 13-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Nestande, | |Fuentes, Conway, |
| |Ammiano, Arambula, | |Bradford, |
| |Carter, Eng, Miller, | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| |Norby, Torlakson | |Davis, Gatto, Hall, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Torrico |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Creates an urgency statute that appropriates
$1,201,534,585 from the Federal Trust Fund for the purposes of
implementing the federal Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance
Act of 2010 (Education Jobs Act), Public Law 111-226.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Appropriates $1,201,534,585 from the Federal Trust Fund to the
Office of Planning and Research (OPR), and authorizes $128,000
of those federal funds to be available to OPR for the purpose
of providing oversight of Education Jobs Act funds allocated
to local educational agencies (LEAs).
2)Requires that $1,201,406,585 of those federal funds be
transferred to the California Department of Education (CDE)
for the purpose of implementing the Education Jobs Act, and
requires those funds to be expended as follows:
a) $1,199,906,585 to be allocated to LEAs in an amount
proportional to the amount calculated for the 2010-11
fiscal year for school district total revenue limits,
county office of education revenue limits, and the revenue
limit portion of charter school operational funding. Also
requires a preliminary allocation equal to 90% of the
estimated final allocation, with that estimate based on
2009-10 data, to be distributed no later than 14 days
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following the enactment of this bill or the notification of
an award for federal funding, whichever is later; and,
b) $1.5 million to be available to the CDE for
administrative purposes related to the allocation of
Education Jobs Act funds to LEAs.
3)Clarifies that LEAs are required to use allocated Education
Jobs Act funds in a manner consistent with the requirements of
the Education Jobs Act and any related federal regulations or
guidance, and requires the funds to be used only for
compensation, benefits and other expenses, including support
services, necessary to retain existing employees, to recall or
rehire former employees, and to hire new employees, where
those employees provide school-level educational and related
services.
4)Authorizes any LEA that receives an allocation of Education
Jobs Act funds and has funds remaining after fiscal year
2010-2011, to use those remaining funds through September 30,
2012, for the purposes specified.
EXISTING LAW requires expenditure authority to be granted,
through an appropriation in the Budget Act, a continuous
statutory appropriation or through an appropriation in special
legislation, before a state agency or department is able to
expend or allocate funds to other entities, such as LEAs.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill distributes $1.2 billion in federal
Education Jobs Act funding to LEAs. Of this amount, $128,000 is
allocated to OPR to perform oversight duties regarding these
federal funds and $1.5 million is allocated to SDE for
administrative purposes.
COMMENTS : On August 10, 2010, President Obama signed HR 1586
into law, enacting the Education Jobs Act which includes $16.1
billion in expanded Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP)
funding for the states and $10 billion in education funding
provided to the states to support an estimated 160,000 education
jobs nationwide. The Education Jobs Act requires that the
education funds provided to the states be spent by LEAs to
prevent teacher layoffs in the 2010-11 school year, that those
funds be expended by September 30, 2012, that the funding be
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allocated to LEAs based on a state's primary funding formula as
specified in the state's State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF)
application or each districts' relative share of federal Title I
funds, that states show that they have met maintainence of
effort provisions, and that this funding not be used to supplant
state education funding or provide a funding reserve.
The $10 billion in education funding will be allocated to the
states proportional to state population; California has received
an award of over $1.2 billion. The United States (U.S.)
Department of Education (USDOE) estimates that this funding will
save approximately 16,500 teacher jobs in California; an
estimated 22,000 teachers received layoff notices in spring of
this year. According to U.S. Secretary of Education (USSE) Arne
Duncan, "With the support of the jobs bill, these educators will
be helping our children learn instead of looking for work. This
is the right thing to do for our children, for our teachers, and
for our economy."
In order to ensure that states receive funding as quickly as
possible, USDOE is streamlining the application process to allow
states to submit applications in an expedited manner. The
Governor submitted California's application for these funds on
August 13, 2010. In that application the Governor responded
that the state's primary funding formula as specified in the
state's State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) application would
be used to allocate funds to LEAs, and provided a number of
assurances related to this program. On August 27, 2010, the
USDOE awarded Education Jobs Act funding to California in the
amount of $1.2 billion.
The purpose of this bill is to appropriate these federal funds
and provide the appropriate state entity with the expenditure
authority necessary for the allocation of these funds to LEAs at
the earliest time possible. This bill distributes these funds
to LEAs (including charter schools) in an amount proportional to
each LEA's revenue limit (general purpose) funding in the
2010-11 FY.
Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0006839
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