BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1199
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: May 25, 2012
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 13, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : School Facility Local Bond Measures; Citizen's
Oversight Committee.
SUMMARY
This bill extends the number of terms that a member of a local
bond citizen's oversight committee may serve, from two to
three consecutive terms and provides that members must serve
for a minimum term of two years.
BACKGROUND
Article XI, section 18 of the California Constitution, as
amended by voter initiative measure (Proposition 39, November
2000) authorizes a school district, community college
district, or county office of education to incur bond
indebtedness for the construction, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, with the
approval of 55 percent of the voters of the district or
county. Article XIII A provides that this vote threshold only
applies if, among other things, constitutionally specified
accountability requirements are met. These include
requirements that the local bond measure includes a specific
list of school projects to be funded and that the authorizing
board conduct annual, independent financial and performance
audits until all bond funds have been spent to ensure they are
used exclusively for the projects listed in the measure.
Current law provides that if a bond measure is authorized
under the Constitutional provisions established by Proposition
39, the governing board of the school or community college
district must establish and appoint members to a Citizen's
Oversight Committee (COC) within 60 days of entering the
election results on its minutes. Among other things, the
purpose of the COC is to review and report on bond fund
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expenditures to ensure a district's compliance with the
purposes and accountability requirements outlined in the
California Constitution as the result of the passage of
Proposition 39. (Education Code � 15278)
Current law also provides that the COC consist of at least
seven members to serve a term of two years for no more than
two consecutive terms, and makes provision for the make-up of
the COC. (EC � 15282)
ANALYSIS
This bill modifies the terms of service on a local bond
Citizen's Oversight Committee (COC) established pursuant to
the constitutional provisions established by Proposition 39.
More specifically it:
1) Provides that members of the COC must serve a minimum
term of two years.
2) Increases the number of consecutive terms that COC
members may serve from two to three two year terms,
thereby authorizing members to serve for a total of six,
rather than four years.
3) Makes a number of technical and clarifying changes.
STAFF COMMENTS
Need for the bill . According to the author, some school
districts have had difficulty finding individuals who meet the
specified criteria to serve on the local Citizen's Oversight
Committee, and several have requested that the State Board of
Education (SBE) grant a waiver of the term limits to allow
existing members to continue their service. Since 2006, the
SBE has granted 20 such requests. Extending the terms which
may be served will alleviate the need for districts to pursue
SBE waivers while ensuring that the terms served on a local
COC are more directly aligned to the timeframes necessary for
the fiscal oversight of local projects envisioned by the
authors of Proposition 39.
SUPPORT
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California League of Bond Oversight Committees
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Superintendent Tom Torlakson.
OPPOSITION
None received.