BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1199
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 11, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1199 (Brownley) - As Amended: January 4, 2012
SUBJECT : School bonds: citizens' oversight committee
SUMMARY : Extends the term for members of local bond citizens'
oversight committees from two consecutive two-year terms to
three consecutive two-year terms.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes, under Section 1 of Article XIII A of the
California Constitution, school districts, community college
districts, or county offices of education to pass a general
obligation bond by a 55% vote, provided that the local
initiative meet specified accountability measures.
2)Requires the governing board of a school district or a
community college district to establish and appoint members to
an independent citizens' oversight committee within 60 days of
the date that the governing board enters the election results
on its minutes. (Education Code Section (EC) 15278)
3)Provides that the citizens' oversight committee shall consist
of at least seven members to serve for a term of two years
without compensation and for no more than two consecutive
terms. Specifies that the committee shall be comprised of the
following:
a) One member active in a business organization;
b) One member active in a senior citizens' organization;
c) One member active in a bona fide taxpayers'
organization;
d) For a school district, one member who is a parent or
guardian of a child enrolled in the district. For a
community college district, a student who is both currently
enrolled in the district and active in a community college
group, such as student government; and,
e) For a school district, one member who is both a parent
or guardian of a child enrolled in a district and active in
a parent-teacher organization, such as the Parent Teacher
Association or schoolsite council. For a community college
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district, one member who is active in the support and
organization of a community college or the community
colleges of the district, such as a member of an advisory
council or foundation. (EC 15282)
4)Specifies duties of the citizens' oversight committee to
include ensuring that bond revenues are expended only for
specified purposes and ensuring that no funds are used for any
teacher or administrative salaries or other school operating
expenses. (EC 15278)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : Proposition 39 was passed by voters in 2000. Among
others, the Proposition, a Constitutional Amendment, reduced the
voting threshold for the passage of local general obligations
bonds from two-thirds to 55% provided that the local bond
initiative meets the following accountability measures:
1)The initiative identifies a list of the specific school
facilities projects that will be funded by bond proceeds;
2)A requirement that the school board, community college board,
or county office of education conduct an annual, independent
performance audit to "ensure that the funds have been expended
only on the specific projects listed;" and,
3)A requirement that the school board, community college board,
or county office of education conduct an annual, independent
financial audit of the proceeds from the sale of the bonds
until all of those proceeds have been expended for the school
facilities projects.
Both the financial audit and performance audit must be reviewed
by an independent citizens' oversight committee. AB 1908
(Lempert), Chapter 44, Statutes of 2000, a companion bill to
Proposition 39, requires each district, within 60 days of the
passage of a local bond with 55% vote to appoint a citizens'
oversight committee to monitor and review expenditures to ensure
compliance with Proposition 39 requirements, and to keep the
public informed about bond expenditures. The bill specified
that the oversight committee must be comprised of a minimum of
seven members, appointed for no more than two consecutive
two-year terms. The bill also specifies that members shall not
be compensated and shall include representatives of business,
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senior citizen, taxpayers', parent teacher organizations, and
parents of children enrolled in the school district.
Under existing law, the State Board of Education (SBE) is
authorized to waive certain sections of the EC or any
regulations adopted by the SBE (EC 33050). Since 2006, the SBE
has granted 19 requests from school districts to waive the term
limit of members of local citizens' oversight committees to
allow existing members to serve an additional term. The
predominant reasons for the requests stem from districts'
inability to find qualified individuals interested in serving on
the committees and the need for continuity. This bill extends
the term of the appointments by one term to enable oversight
committee members to serve six years instead of four. A local
governing board is not required to appoint individuals to three
terms, but this bill will alleviate the need for districts to
pursue waivers to reappoint existing members to an additional
term and reduce the workload at the SBE to process and approve
the waivers. The author states, "School construction projects
can take five years or longer. Enabling oversight committee
members the ability to oversee projects from beginning to end
enhances accountability of local dollars, as envisioned by the
authors of Proposition 39."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087